Olive
by xoxomeg
Summary: Lucas just so happened to be working the overnight shift the night Maya came in with a hurt kitten.
1. Chapter 1

\- M -

Great job tonight Maya, your work sold like crazy!" a man said handing Maya an envelope. "Thanks Seth! Let me know when you guys are gonna do another pop up, I'd love to participate again!" Maya said taking the envelope from him and opening it. "Will do." he said before turning around and walking back to his office.

As Maya stepped out of the Brooks Art Studio, she took a peak at her check, NICE, she thought as she saw she made a good 3 grand on 5 paintings. She's gotten a lot better than when she first started attending pop ups. When she finished college, she had attended every pop up she could find, trying to sell any piece she could. Sometimes she didn't sell anything, and other times she got lucky and sold one or two pieces, but didn't make more than a couple hundred. Now she has people in bidding wars over her paintings. She's pretty well known in the art world now. A lot of people notice her on the streets and some people even have her paintings hanging in their shops.

Brooks Art Studio isn't far from Maya's apartment, just a few blocks through the city and she makes it to her place. Maya lives in a two bedroom apartment, and it's actually quite big. Maya's step dad, Shawn, decided as an early graduation present to her and Riley, he'd buy the girls an apartment. Riley is Maya's best friend in the entire world, next to Farkle of course. Riley and Maya have been best friends since kindergarten, inseparable since. They had been attending NYU together and even got lucky enough to be roommates in the dorms.

Shawn actually got too excited and bought the apartment for them during their junior year in college, so they lived there since. They lived together for 5 years before Riley announced to Maya that she was moving out; her reasoning, Charlie proposed!

Charlie and Riley had been dating for about two years before he popped the question. Maya was excited for Riley, but she was extremely sad when she found out that her best friend was no longer going to be living with her. It wasn't completely terrible. Charlie's apartment was about 3 blocks away from Maya's. So they are in walking distance of each other whenever they need to see each other. Soon after all of Riley's things were out of the apartment, she snuck back in while Maya was out and created the most beautiful art studio in her old bedroom as a thank you for everything Maya has done to help her through her life.

As Maya turned the corner she noticed something moving on the side of the road. It was around 7pm, the streets were crowded with people rushing and cars speeding by to get home from work on this Friday night. At first, she thought it was a street rat, there's many here in New York. Rats usually move fast out here and this thing was moving extremely slow. Maya quickly got through everyone before getting to the curb. She looked down by the manhole and noticed a small black kitten dragging it's back legs trying to get off the road. Maya assumed it had recently gotten hit by a car passing by. She took her scarf off and picked up the kitten and wrapped it in the scarf. It was a cold night, and usually Maya would rush to her apartment to take a hot shower, but she knew she couldn't leave this poor kitten out in the cold to die because of it's injuries.

She pulled out her phone and googled the nearest vet office that was still open. Most vets are closed by 5pm around here, and to no surprise, there were no vets open at this time. She found the closest one and noticed that they have an emergency vet on site at this hour. She found the address and realized it wasn't far from where she was.

She held the kitten close to her, trying very hard not to hurt it, pulled up her thigh high boots, and took a quick jog down the street. The vet's office was a few blocks in the opposite direction from her apartment, and the weather was getting worse by the second. She was across the street from the vet when the rain started coming down. When the light changed for people to cross the street, the rain came down harder. Maya covered the kitten with her arm and ran as fast as she could without slipping. She made it across the street and ran straight for the door to the vet's office only to find it locked.

\- L -

"Okay Leo, no more trying to jumping, you need to rest that leg of yours. I don't want to have to perform anymore surgeries on you mister." Lucas said to the staffy that's in his kennel. "Thank you for not fighting me while I gave you your meds." he said before turning the lights off in the kennel room. He closed the door behind him and went into the examination room to take a look at Leo's x-rays.

The night shift isn't the best, but Lucas doesn't always have to work this shift, and when he does, he usually gets Zay as his vet tech. Zay and Lucas were best friends, ever since elementary school back in Texas. They grew up together, went to the same high school, played baseball together, and even went to college together out in Texas. Lucas was glad he decided to join this profession with him. He could have continued to play baseball in college but after his break up with his long time girlfriend Vanessa, he wanted a change of scenery. So he applied to vet tech school online while Lucas went to vet school here in New York City. Right after they both graduated, they were offered a position in a vet office in New York that they couldn't pass up.

As Lucas walked down the hall he heard a loud bang. Zay popped out of one of the examination rooms and looked to see if it was Lucas making the noise. The banging continued; "I'll check that, it's probably a homeless person trying to get out of the rain." he said before walking around the corner to the front office. Lucas continued to the examination room to check on the x-rays. This injury is very similar to his last injury, just on the opposite leg.

Lucas heard the door behind him open, "Zay can you pull out Leo's old x-rays, I wanna compare this injury to his last one." he asked not turning around. When Zay didn't answer Lucas turned to see that it wasn't Zay but a short girl in front of him. "Oh, I'm so sorry ma'am, I thought you were someone else. Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked. She just stood there staring at him. Lucas heard a faint meow come from her scarf and she focused again, "This kitten, I found it on the side of the road. I'm almost certain it got hit by a car." she said as she took the scarf apart to reveal a small black kitten crying.

Lucas took the kitten from her arms and turned it to see if it was a boy or girl. When he found that it was a girl, he placed her on the examination table to see what was hurting her. The kitten picked herself up with her front two paws and started to crawl, not being able to use her two back legs. Lucas quickly picked her up noticing that she was in pain.

"Zay! I need you in here now!" Lucas yelled out the door. He came quickly, "I need x-rays on this kitten done now so I can see exactly what's wrong with her." he said. "On it." Zay said as he took the kitten from Lucas and made his way out the door.

"Don't worry ma'am, we'll help your kitten. She's in good hands here." Lucas reassured her. He noticed that she was shaking a little. He took a good look at her and realized that she was dripping wet from the rain. "Oh you must be freezing! Hold on." he say before quickly running out of the room to our staff room across the hall. He pulled out a couple of towels for her and made his way back to the room. "Here's some clean towels, usually used for people and not pets." Lucas said trying to lighten the mood a bit. She thanked him and took the towels, slowly taking her jacket off and drying herself off. Lucas felt a little awkward watching her dry off. Don't get him wrong, a beautiful girl starting to strip down in front of him is something he'd never pass up to see. But this was one of his customers and it just felt wrong, so he opted to check on Zay and the kitten. He walked out and around the corner to see if Zay had finished with the x-rays. He showed him exactly where she was hurt and told him we should put her under now.

\- M -

"Ok, prep her for surgery." Maya heard the man say from down the hall. She poked her head out of the doorway and saw the vet making his way toward Maya. "Your kitten will have to go to surgery now. She has a broken leg and a fractured rib. I don't think she got hit by a car, I think someone probably threw her out of a moving car. She looks about 5 or 6 months old and very underfed. I'll be keeping a close eye on her tonight. I have Zay the vet tech prepping her for surgery right now. I just have a couple of questions for you." He said gesturing for Maya to go to the front office. She quickly grabbed her jacket and made her way to the

"So if I heard correctly, you found this kitten right?" The vet asked. "Yes" Maya said.

"Do you plan on keeping her ma'am?" he asked her. "Please stop calling me ma'am, I feel like an old lady when you say that. I'm Maya, and if she makes it, I'd like to keep her." she replied a little shocked that she said she'd keep the cat. Maya has never owned any pets, she could barely keep plants alive. That was Riley's thing. Riley used to grow plants in pots around the apartment, and Maya knew for a fact that if Riley was still living with Maya, she'd be the one to love and spoil this cat way more than Maya could. But Maya had been feeling a little lonely in the apartment since her best friend moved out a few months ago. Once the words left her mouth, she was determined to make sure this kitten had the best life she could ever have.

"I'd also like to get her spayed while she is under. It'd be a lot easier to just get everything done at one time, so she doesn't have a lot of surgeries to go through, if that's okay with you." he asked Maya, "Spayed?" she asked him. "Spayed. Basically she'd be getting fixed so she can't have babies, in case she runs into a male cat that jumps her, you don't have to worry about her having kittens of her own." he said, Maya laughed a little, "Sure." she said. "Perfect." he said.

The vet handed Maya a clipboard with some paper on it. "If I could have you fill this out, it's just your information and some info on your kitten so that we can contact you when she's out of surgery and to give you further instructions on how to care for her injuries. You can have a seat over there and fill those out." he said before his phone started ringing, "I'll be right back." he said before answering it and walking down the hall.

Maya sat on the chairs in the lobby and started filling out her information. She turned the page and read that it asked for the kitten's name. She knows for sure that the cat is a girl, the vet kept saying her when referring to the kitten so she had to pick a girl name. She thought hard and the first thing that popped into her mind was Olive. Maya thought of a small little black olive and giggled to herself before writing Olive on the line. She wrote out the rest of the information that she knew and stood up, making her way down the hall to where she assumed the doctor would be.

Before she turned the corner she could hear the vet on the phone. "I'm at work, I don't have time to be discussing this with you." he said sounding very frustrated. "You're gonna have to wait until tomorrow, I'm about to do a surgery." he said. "Well too bad!" he shouted before hanging up. He looked completely pissed. Maya's head was peaking around the corner when he looked up and locked eyes with her. She gasped and quickly hid behind the corner. She closed her eyes and hoped that she didn't just get caught eavesdropping.

Within seconds she heard footsteps coming around the corner and was met with the vet standing right in front of her. "Oh hi, here's your papers sir." she said feeling super guilty that she had just overheard his conversation. He took the clipboard from her and sighed, "Please don't call me sir, it makes me feel like an old man when you say that." he mimicked Maya. She let out a soft giggle and loosened up a bit. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I walked in at the wrong time." she said. "It's fine, it's just been a long day." he said sighing.

He quickly looked over the papers, "Well Ms. Hart," he paused, "Maya, I will be in contact with you. If you'd like to stop by tomorrow to check on her you are more than welcome. She should be done with her surgery by tomorrow and will be ready for recovery after that. I request that we keep her here tomorrow night as well so we can keep an eye on her reaction to the surgery. After that she should be good to go home with you. I have a list of things that you should have in your house to prepare for her arrival on Sunday." He said as they walked down the hall to the front office. He went behind the front desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it to Maya. She took it from him and quickly read over it, a litter box, litter, cat food with suggestions on good brands to buy for kittens and older cats, toy, etc. "Thank you." she said before folding it up and stuffing it in her purse.

She picked up her leather jacket and threw it on before turning to the vet. "So I'll see you tomorrow when you come to check on your cat yes? We open at 8am tomorrow." the vet said smiling. She smiled back to him, "I'll be here. Thanks Doctor…." she said and stopped realizing she didn't even know the guy's name. "Lucas" he replied sticking his hand out. Maya took his hand and shook it, "Thank you Doctor Lucas." she said before dropping his hand and leaving the office. She closed the door behind her, braced herself, and started to speed walk her way to her apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

The clock strikes 7 on this beautiful Saturday morning. Lucas and Zay are just finishing feeding all the breakfasts and cleaning the dishes for the morning. Just as they finish, two girls walk in the office. Natalie and Bridgette work the front desk for the day shifts, they're here to relieve Lucas and Zay from their overnight shift. Both Lucas and Zay don't work today considering they worked all night. They technically worked the shift, considering everyone that works this shift does the same thing, mainly watched movies and manned the kennels whenever needed.

"I'll be back at 8 to check on a patient, it's a small black kitten, she came in as an emergency last night. Her owner will be coming by and I'll be here to update her." Lucas told the two girls. They were looking over the schedule for today, preparing all the paperwork for the day. "You can just give us the update on her and we'd be happy to help her owner when they come in." Bridgette says, not looking up from her paperwork. "No, it's totally fine, I don't mind coming back. I'd rather do it considering I did the surgery last night with Zay." Lucas says as Zay starts walking out from the hall.

"Oh please, Lucas just wants to come back to see the hot girl that owns the kitten." Zay says laughing. Lucas slaps him on the chest, "Dude. No. It- Ugh, it's just going to be easier if I tell the owner exactly what we did during the surgery so we don't leave out any details." Lucas stutters. The two girls look up from their papers and look straight at Lucas. "Fine. See you at 8." Natalie says.

Lucas takes a breather and nods to them before leaving. He leaves the office and jumps into his truck with Zay in the passenger seat. They take off to go home, Lucas in a rush to make it back in time.

As Lucas is rushing to go home and get ready, Maya is just waking up around 7am. She jumps out of bed realizing she only has one hour to get ready. She quickly runs over to her bathroom, strips down, and starts her shower as she brushes her teeth. She takes a quick shower, not bothering to wash her hair considering she doesn't have the time to dry it. She gets out and wraps her towel around her after quickly drying herself off.

She ran over to her closet, pulling out her underwear, blue jeans, a black shirt and a grey cardigan. She slipped into her clothes as she heard someone knocking on her door. She looked over to the clock, reading 7:30 before she grabbed some socks and ran out to get the door.

As Maya opened it, she was greeted with a screaming and smiley Riley. 'GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!" she yelled in Maya's ear as she pulled her in for a hug. "You know you still have your key right? You didn't have to knock, you could have just walked right in." Maya said as she pulled away from the hug and started putting her socks on. "I know, but I wanted to see if you were actually awake this time." Riley said as she sat down on the couch. "You're fully dressed, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Riley jumped up. "I uhm," Maya started, "I'm meeting some people for a possible art exhibit coming up. I'll hopefully get my art featured." Maya said. Riley bounced her way over to Maya and started shaking her, "THATS SO EXCITING MAYA OMG I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" She screamed. "Did Charlie add a little too much sugar in your coffee this morning?" Maya asked. Riley calmed down for a second, "Yeah, he's still trying to get that perfectly down." she said. "Geez, it's been two years, you think he'd know by now." Maya said laughing with Riley.

As she put her boots on, there was another knock on the door. Maya looked over to Riley who shrugged, just as confused as Maya was. She wasn't expecting anyone this early, heck she wasn't even expecting Riley to come over today, and she usually comes over everyday she can.

Maya walked over to the door and opened it slowly, only to have the door come flying at her, pushing her back into the table that stands by the entrance. Riley jumps at the sight of Maya getting pushed only to find her uncle in the doorway, looking drunk as usual. She takes a seat on the chair with it's back facing the door, hoping he didn't see her.

Maya rubs her back, that's currently shooting pain and will probably bruise, as she looks up to see who is standing there. "What the hell Josh?!" she says. Josh looked over to Maya seeing what he just did. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry baby, I didn't mean to do that." he said grabbing her hand. Maya pushed his hand away, "No! You don't get to do that. Go away Josh!" Maya said before walking away from him. "But babe" he started, "NO! She yelled, "Josh, I meant it when I said we were done." she said holding back her tears, partially from the pain in her back. She didn't notice the bottle in his hand, which she should have known was there.

He was a drunk, a psychotic, controlling drunk.

She looked up at him and his eyes were filled with rage. He slammed the bottle straight down onto her floor. Maya jumped, covering her face to make sure no glass would hit her eyes. He took a couple of steps and grabbed Maya by her arm, pulling her closer to him. "You don't really mean that do you?" his breath reeked of alcohol. Maya pushed him off of her, more angry than she was before. "I meant it Josh. I'm not letting you push me around anymore. We're done. You need to leave." she said as she stepped to him. He took a slight step back noticing her change.

Maya wasn't the fragile, crazy in love idiot she once was when she was dating Josh. The day she realized Josh was an abusive drunk was the day she realized that she wasn't herself. She had let herself fall right into his hands. He had full control over her because she was so in love with him, and she had been since she was a kid.

"Okay, I get it. You need some time to cool off. I'll see you later baby." Josh said before he started to walk away. "Don't come back Josh." Maya said as he walked out. He stopped and turned to look at her one more before walking away. Maya quickly moved to shut the door and lock it. She turned and rested her back against the door, wincing in pain remembering that a part of her back was probably bruised.

Riley popped her head out from behind the chair, "Maya, are you okay?" she asked as she took a quick look around to make sure he was gone. "Yeah I'm okay." Maya responded. Riley got off the chair and ran over to Maya to give her a hug. "I'm so sorry Maya. I don't understand how he got so out of control. He was never like this before." she said. Maya sighed, "I know."

Maya looked over to her clock, 7:50. "Oh shit, I'm gonna be late." Maya said as she rushed to the bathroom. She quickly brushed out her hair and threw it in a high ponytail. She took a look at herself in the mirror as she put her chap stick on her lips. She left the bathroom and quickly looked for her broom. "I got it Maya, don't worry. You go to your meeting, I'll clean this up." Riley said with the broom already in her hands. "No Riley, you don't have to" Maya started but Riley cut her off, "You've already had a stressful morning, I want to do this for you. Now go to your meeting." she said. Maya hugged her before grabbing her phone, keys and purse and making her way out the door and running over to the vet.

Lucas parks his car in the parking lot out back for staff only. As he walks through a short alleyway to get to the front door of the building, he's stopped by a woman, but not just any woman, it's his girlfriend Becca.

"What are you doing here on your day off huh?' Becca says, blocking Lucas from leaving the alley. "What are you doing here Becca?" he asked, annoyed at the fact that she's acting like such a child. "We need to talk Lucas." she says looking up at him. Lucas was tall, very tall. Becca was barely 5'5 and she still had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. "We'll talk about this later, I'm meeting with an owner about the emergency patient that came in last night." he said pissed as he tried to push past her. She stopped him right before he could turn the corner.

"Oh come on Luke, I was mad. But I'm not mad anymore, at least not about what happened last night." she said. "I told you I had to work last night and I couldn't spend the night at your place. I told you twice and you didn't listen to me. So that's your problem." Lucas said trying to push past her once again, but Becca was determined to have this conversation. Lucas looked down at his watch just as the numbers switched to 8 o'clock. "Look Becca, I have to meet with a patient's owners, could you please move, we can have this conversation later." he pleaded with her. Becca stood her ground, "No," she said, "You said we could have this conversation tomorrow, and oh look, it's tomorrow.

He sighed, "Okay so talk."

"Look Luke, I love you, but our communication needs work here. I don't remember you telling me that you had to work last night, and that was partly my fault. But the way you answered the phone last night was what made me more angry." she started. "When you answered, instead of just telling me you were at work, you shut me down after I asked you to come over. It hurt my feelings a bit so I got a little mad at you." she said, but before she could continue, Lucas cut her off. "A little mad? Becca, you told me that I wasn't allowed to go to work last night and that despite me saying I was about to perform surgery, you told me to let that animal die because you were more important, or did you forget that you said that?"

"Okay, that was a bit harsh, I'll give you that. I know that's not something you wanted to hear me say. But you know what I didn't want to hear this morning?" she asked, "That you're coming in on your day off to chat with a patient's owner because she's hot." she said looking pissed as ever. Lucas had to think for a second, how could she possibly know about something Zay said in the office. Then it hits him, Natalie is her friend, Natalie told her about what Zay said. "Becca, I'm not here because she's hot. I'm here because I performed surgery on this girl's cat, and I'm the one who needs to tell her what happened during the surgery and what the recovery process is going to be." he explained.

"Fine, do what you must. But we are having this conversation later." she says.

Around the corner, Maya is just arriving to the vet's office when she hears someone talking, someone that sounds like Lucas. She popped her head around the corner slightly to see what was going on. She saw Lucas talking to a girl.

"This isn't something we need to discuss because nothing is happening." Lucas said. Becca cups his face in her hands, "Okay, I believe you baby. Will you come over after you finish here?" she asked him. "I'm not sure how long this will take, so I'll call you when I'm done okay?" Lucas had said to her. She gave him a kiss on the lips, causing Maya to shoot her head back. Lucas the vet had a girlfriend, of course he did. He's gorgeous, why wouldn't he?

Maya straightened herself out and walked into the vet. She couldn't believe this. He was acting so friendly toward her. But maybe that was just it. Maybe he was just being friendly, no secret flirting in there. Maybe because of everything that has happened with Josh, she was hoping something was there. She pulled herself together as she walked up to the front desk, "Hi, I'm Maya, I'm here to see my kitten Olive."

Just as she said that, Lucas walks in. "Oh Maya you're here. Right on time." He said as he gestures her to come toward the examination rooms. The girls at the front desk look at Maya then back to Lucas. They give him a dirty look to which he responds with the same look. Lucas and Maya round the corner and he tells her to have a seat in the room. He left her to get Olive from the kennel room.

When he returns, he places Olive on the table. She has a small cone around her neck, a small cast on her back leg, and stitches on her stomach. "Olive!" Maya said getting a little excited. She rushed to the side of the table. "Oh I'm so glad you're okay." Maya said as she scratched the top of her kitten's head. "So she'll have to wear this cast for quite a few weeks. Her stitches here will dissolve in a few days when she is fully healed, so don't worry if she somehow gets out of her cone and starts picking on this area. Her ribs are starting to heal, so there's nothing to really worry about there." Lucas started, Maya not making eye contact with him. "Here's the pain meds for her. She should take half a pill every morning. It'll help with any pain she might be feeling. Continue to give these to her until it's all gone, should last about a week. " he finished. "Sounds good." Maya said.

"So we will keep her here for one more night to keep an eye on her rib and her leg. So you are free to come and pick her up tomorrow, we open at 9 tomorrow." he says. Maya won't look at him, she keeps her focus on Olive, lightly petting her head. "Fine. I have to go, please take care of her." Maya said before leaving the room, leaving Lucas a little confused as to what's wrong with her.

Maya walked past the two girls at the front desk and right out the door. She made her way back to her apartment, thankful that Riley was still there. "Honey, I'm home." she said as she entered the room.

"Peaches! That was quick, how was the meeting?" she asked jumping out of her seat. "Oh uh, they had a lot of guidelines for the paintings, things that I didn't like, so I turned them down." she said as she moved to sit back on the couch with Riley. "Oh I'm sorry Peaches. You'll find a better art exhibit who will love your work!" Riley said hopefully. "Thanks honey. Hey, I'm hungry, wanna go get something to eat?" Maya suggested. Riley nodded and they both left the apartment to go to their usual, Topanga's.

As they approached Riley's mom's bakery, Maya had thought about telling Riley about Lucas. She felt like she needed to just let it out there, and Riley being her best friend, she wouldn't judge her.

They both picked up some pastries from the counter and some went to sit in a small booth on the side. "Hey Riles, I need to tell you something." Maya started as soon as they sat down. "Spill." Riley said. "Well, okay, so I met this guy yesterday," she started which caused Riley to make her comments, "Ooooh," she smiled, to which Maya giggled. "Well that's what I thought too. But then I ran into him this morning, on my way to the meeting, and he was with his girlfriend." Maya said.

"How do you know that was his girlfriend?" Riley asked. "They were talking, and they kissed." she said. "He didn't see me, but a part of me was really hurt by it. I mean, I kind of figured he had a girlfriend, but he was just so friendly toward me yesterday that I guess I kind of wanted something to be there." Maya admitted.

"Well of course you did." Riley started, Maya looked at her with confusion all over her face. "You've had an on and off relationship with Josh for so long, and it wasn't the easiest. You had wished something was there because after everything with Josh, you were hoping for something real, something nice, someone who was nice." Riley said. Maya agreed, she had hit every point that Maya had thought about. "I know, it just sucks." Maya had replied.

"How about this, you need to get your mind off of this mysterious friendly guy and Josh. So how about I call up Missy and Smackle, and we go out for a little girls night tonight?" Riley said with a little pep in her voice. "I don't know Riley, I'm not really in the mood to party." Maya said picking at her donut. "You can get extremely drunk and forget about everything that has happened" Riley said which caught Maya's attention. Riley didn't normally let Maya get extremely drunk. Riley was the mom of her friend group, always watching out for her friends, making sure none of them got too drunk at parties made it home safely. But this was something that Riley knew Maya might need, a night to just let loose, and Riley would join her on this adventure; even though Riley wasn't a huge fan of alcohol. Her tiny body could only handle two drinks before she got all wobbly and drunk. But Maya, well she could drink her body weight in drinks and then start to feel drunk. Maya was a lot smaller than Riley, high wise anyway, but boy could she drink.

"Fine, call them." Maya said as Riley happily pulled out her phone, ready to plan the night away.


	3. Chapter 3

Riley had wanted the girls to meet a little earlier to get ready together. It was around 7:45 when everyone was putting the final touches of their make up on.

Riley had a red crop top with a short high waisted white pleated skirt. She was strapping her flats on, knowing she's trip and fall after a couple of drinks if she were to wear heels. Smackle had on a dark blue long sleeve dress that was a bit tight, definitely not her style, but Maya had convinced her to wear it. Smackle had agreed to wear the dress if she could wear her sneakers, which Maya agreed to since she wanted to see Smackle in that dress. Missy wore a silver sequined skater dress with silver heels that she would surely take off so she can walk barefoot before they even get to the bar. Maya wore a spaghetti strap tight mini black dress, just short of her fingertips. She made sure to put on her 4 inch black heels, she needed all the height she could get.

The girls fixed their hair before grabbing their things and heading out for the bar.

Around 8:15 they made it to the bar, York Tavern. They had a little trouble getting in considering the girls all looked like they were still in high school, except Maya who looked short enough to be in middle school still yet. The bouncer did not believe that any of these girls were 26 years old, and were convinced they were using fakes. But once Maya opened her mouth the bouncer didn't seem to doubt them anymore. Riley threw her hand over Maya's mouth before she made the bouncer mad and he wouldn't let them in. He thought for a second then gestured for them to go in. From there, things went fine.

It was small, not super crowded, but just enough people that the girls can have fun with. Their first drink, a shot of tequila. Riley did say Maya could get as drunk as she wanted, and the perfect way to do that was to start with tequila.

Maya knew for a fact that both Smackle and Riley would be wobbly after just one shot, but they all took it anyway, Smackle nearly joking on the harsh taste. Smackle was never a drinker, she had a fruity mixed drink here and there whenever the girls went out drinking. But Riley had told the girls that Maya needed a night to let loose and forget about the things that have happened, so Smackle said what they hell, and just went for it.

After one shot, the girls all got their own drinks and made their way through the bar to a table. The waitress came by asking if the girls wanted anything to eat. They ordered some nachos and Maya ordered another beer. She chugged down her first one and waited patiently until the girl came back with another drink. As the night went on, Maya continued to chug her beers and kept repeating "Screw boys!" before chomping down on some nachos.

Smackle ended up getting pretty drunk within one hour and had to use the bathroom really badly. Riley was already drunk off one shot and two fruity drinks and Missy was flirting with the bartender to see if she could score a free drink, and possibly get laid. So Maya was up for making sure Smackle makes it to the bathroom. When the two returned from the bathroom Maya could see an older man sitting at the table with Riley. Maya could tell from far away that Riley was extremely uncomfortable and kept trying to leave the table. Maya had made her way to the table slowly, making sure Smackle didn't fall while walking. It wasn't until the creepy guy had tried to touch Riley, Maya started running over to them. Smackle leaned on another booth and decided to wait there.

Maya approached the table and grabbed the guy by his jacket, pulling him out of the seat. "What the hell?" the guy said looking straight, only to find that he had to look down at Maya. "You don't touch my friend." Maya said. The guy laughed, "Well what are you gonna do about it little lady?" he towered over her. Curse her mother for making her extremely short. Either way, she wasn't afraid to take on people taller than her, hell she's taken down people taller than this guy.

The guy lightly brushed Maya's cheek and laughed. That made her angry. She grabbed his hand from her face and twisted his wrist, causing him to yelp in pain. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at them. "You don't ever touch my friend or me. You got that?" Maya yelled. He looked down at her then back at his wrist, that was throbbing in pain, before security came in to escort him out.

Maya handed the waitress a $50 for the nachos and the beers she didn't already pay for, gathered her friends, and they left the bar.

Stupid boys always ruining everything.

The girls wobbled their way to another bar, one that looked more fun than the last. Riley, who was still drunk, screamed when she saw the word karaoke and pulled them toward that place. When they got in, they found a booth up front near the stage. Missy loved singing, so before she even sat down to order a drink, she was looking at the song sheet to see what she could sing. Before the girls could even got their drinks, Missy was up on stage singing along to the beat of Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.

Around 10pm Zay and Lucas started wondering around the streets of New York looking for a place to play darts and drink beer. They stumbled upon a bar with live music and walked in, only to find that live music was drunk people getting up on stage and singing karaoke.

The boys found a dart set up in the corner of the place, right next to the bar. Zay had ordered two beers as Lucas went to grab the darts. They threw the darts for a bit, drinking one beer after another. The two had a long week and had been planning this night for a while. Of course, Becca had to ruin it, making sure the boys left later than they planned to.

Becca had made a huge deal about Lucas going out with Zay that night, claiming that Zay is a bad influence on him. Lucas got mad at her for even saying such a thing and left her, making sure he had chosen Zay over her.

At the other end of the bar, Maya was looking through the song sheet. She was pretty drunk. She had chugged two beers in under one minute and had the courage to jump on stage and sing. Her eyes landed on a song she knew by heart and was ready to sing. She pressed H16 into the machine before taking her place onstage.

Just as the piano started playing, Lucas had wondered into the bathroom, just missing the short blonde onstage. As she began to sing, "Hello, it's me." Zay froze, slowly turning to see the same blonde girl that got Lucas all shaken up just recently.

Maya hadn't noticed Zay in the back as she belched out, "HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE, I MUST HAVE CALLED A THOUSAND TIMES"

She was good, really good. Zay was a bit mesmerized as Lucas joined him. He looked at his friend, confused. When Zay noticed Lucas standing by him he laughed. "What?" he asked confused. Then he heard it. He heard that familiar voice. He turned and noticed Maya standing onstage in that short black dress. He stood there in awe of how beautiful she was, and of course how good she was at singing.

Maya didn't notice Lucas at all as she sang the last line of the song, "But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymoooooore."

She stumbled a bit, but made if off the stage in once piece. Missy had wanted to go once more, so she made her way to the stage once Maya was off. The music started playing as Mays told Riley she was going to get another beer. Riley had raised her margarita, gesturing for Maya to get her another one as well. Smackle leaned against Riley, sipping on her water. Maya walked, as best as she could in her heels, over to the bar, took the empty seat and ordered her two drinks. The bartender nodded and went to make her drinks. As she sat there, she felt someone staring at her. She looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed the vet tech Zay standing there, which only meant one thing, he was there too.

Lucas leaned against the bar next to Maya, facing the other way. She didn't want to turn to look at him. She didn't want to believe that he was there right now. She went out with her friends to not think about these boys and yet here was one of them.

Way to ruin the night.

"So, you can really sing." was the first thing that Lucas could say to her. She still didn't look at him. "Thanks." she nodded as she pulled out some cash. She handed the bartender her cash before taking the two drinks off the bar. She hopped off the stool and started making her way to the table only for Lucas to walk in front of her and stop her. "Did I do something to piss you off or something?"

"Nope. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my friends." Maya said trying to get around him. He stopped her once again, this time bumping into another girl in the process, "Sorry ma'am." he said before turning back to Maya. Her face all scrunched up, "What is that accent, it's so damn weird." she teased. "I'm from Texas, I have an accent, it's not weird." Lucas said.

Maya could feel the alcohol slightly starting to take over as she started to giggle, "That makes sense, you're a hop-a-long" she joked, making a mental note to try and remember that nick name for whenever she ran into him at the vet office while she was sober. Lucas was confused, "Hop-a-long?"

"Don't worry about it. Now move it Ranger Rick." she shoo-ed him away. "Ranger Rick?" she heard him asking himself.

She finally made her way back to her booth and sunk into her seat next to Riley. "Riley don't look, but remember that guy I was telling you about?" Riley nodded, "Well he's here by the bar." Disobeying what Maya had asked, Riley turned her head to look at the bar; but she turned a little too fast, causing her to get extremely dizzy. She turned back to the table and groaned as she rubbed her head. She really shouldn't have done that. Without thinking, she grabbed her new margarita and started drinking, forgetting about the pain in her head. Maya sipped her beer, hoping he wouldn't make his way over to her table.

A minute went by and Maya thought it was safe to sit up straight and turn to look if he was still there. She slowly turned, taking a quick peak in the corner by the dart board, and to no surprise, he was still there. She turned back around just as Lucas looked in her direction. She chugged down most of her beer before she felt a tug on her arm, causing her to spill a bit of beer on herself.

"What the hell?!" she yelled as her eyes met with an angry, and obviously drunk, Josh.

His hand gripped onto her bicep, surely leaving a bruise there as well. "Where the hell have you been Maya, I've been calling you for hours." he slurred. Maya winced in pain as he squeezed harder around her arm. She tried to shove him off of her, but his grip was strong this time. He pulled her closer to him, she could smell the alcohol on him, and he shoved her into the booth table. She knew they were causing a scene in the bar, and she was hoping it was big enough to the point where someone comes to kick Josh out like that creepy guy at the last bar.

"We're going home, now." his voice was stern, and scary. He pulled Maya a bit, but she was being held back by Riley. Drunk and weak little Riley was holding onto Maya's hand, not letting her go with him. "Leave her alone Uncle Josh!" She said as she straightened out. "Stay out of this Riley." He said as he pulled Maya forward, causing her hand to slip out of Riley's grasp.

Just as Maya was being pulled toward Josh, unable to steady herself due to her heels having little to no grip, someone else grabbed her arm. She looked up to find Lucas standing face to face with Josh. He pulled Josh's hand off of her bicep and pulled her behind him. "Who do you think you are putting your hands on her like that." Lucas said, extremely mad, something Maya never thought she'd see.

Lucas and Josh stood tall, Lucas a little taller than him, neither backing down anytime soon. "I'm her boyfriend, you should mind your own business." Josh said as he tried to grab Maya from behind Lucas.

Lucas put his hand on Josh's shoulder, "Boyfriend or not, you don't lay your hands on a girl, ever." he said. Josh shoved his arm off of his shoulder. "I said mind your own business!" Josh said as he shoved Lucas backward into Maya. She jumped to the side just in time. Lucas had slammed into an empty table. He steadied himself as he threw a punch at Josh, right in the face. He fell back onto the ground. Maya grabbed Lucas and pulled him back, "Hey, chill out!" she yelled. "He put his hands on you, and he pushed me first." Lucas protested.

Maya noticed Josh starting to get up. She rushed over to his side as he stood up. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "Josh stop. Ok just stop!" she yelled. Just as he stopped, security had come over and asked them all to leave before they called the cops. Josh reached for Maya, trying to pull her with him, but she pulled her arm back. Lucas reached for him but the security stopped him. They escorted Josh out first, making sure he was gone before they escorted Lucas out, Zay following behind him.

"We're gonna have to ask you girls to leave as well." the security said to Maya. She nodded before turning around to gather her things. Riley was bundled up with Smackle with their faces buried in their laps, not wanting to see the violence. Maya had tapped on both of them, telling them that they needed to go. Missy got off the stage and followed behind them.

As they exited the bar, Lucas was outside waiting for Maya. "Are you okay?" he asked approaching her. "I'm fine." Maya said walking away from him, leaving her friends behind. She just didn't want to be talking to Lucas. She didn't want to talk to anyone, especially after what just happened in there.

"Hey" he said reaching for her hand only for Maya to pull away. "Leave me alone!" Maya yelled, holding back the tears. Lucas stopped in his place to do as she wished.

She was in pain. Her arm hurt, her back still hurt from that morning, and her heart hurt.

Riley had just finished putting Smackle and Missy into a cab and sent them on their way home. She joined Maya, who fell into her arms. Riley waved down another cab to come pick them up. She slowly walked with Maya, trying hard to make sure Maya didn't fall. As she placed Maya into the cab, Maya was already pulling her heels off, wishing this night never happened.

Riley turned to look at the boys standing on the curb, shot them a small smile and mouthed thank you before getting in the car herself. She told the cab driver the address of Maya's apartment before he took off.

On the curb, Lucas and Zay stood there in shock about everything that just happened. "Dude, you punched her boyfriend in the face. I think you lost any shot you had with her." he joked as he patted him on the shoulder. "How can she be with someone like that? He's a psychopath!" Lucas said in disbelief. How could someone so small and adorable be with someone so harsh and abusive?

"I don't know man," Zay started, "But for what it's worth, I think she was grateful you stepped in."


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi guys! I just wanted to quickly say thank you for reading, reviewing, following and adding this story to your favorites. I honestly didn't think this story would get as much attention as it has. Thank you so much for your support :)_

* * *

The sun was brightly shining through Maya's uncovered windows. With her and Riley being so drunk, she forgot to close the curtains like she normally would. As Maya turned in her bed, she felt the sun shining right on her face. She groaned as she stretched a bit, trying to wake herself up. She opened her eyes and looked right into the sun. She grumbled as she threw herself under her blanket, only making herself feel worse due to the hangover she has.

On the other side of the bed, Riley could feel Maya moving next to her. She woke up and sat up straight, only for her to get really light headed and lay back down. "UGH! I hate hangovers!" Riley said as she covered her head with her pillow.

Just as Riley was about to get out of bed, she checked to see if she had left asprin out for the two of them. She looked over to Maya's nightstand and saw the bottle of pills and two bottles of water. She got out of bed and walked over to Maya's side, grabbing the bottle and popping some out for the two of them. Riley was surprised she remembered to do that. Normally she does it when she leaves Maya from a night out drinking. She thanked her lucky stars that she remembered to do it while she was very drunk.

Maya climbed out from under the blanket and took the pill from Riley. "Let's get up, I'll make us some breakfast." Riley said before looking over to the clock, "Or brunch works better." She said as she realized it was almost 10am.

Maya had made her way into her bathroom and Riley found her way into her old bathroom. They were both still in the clothes they had on last night. The girls took a hot shower before returning to the living room, both wearing Maya's lazy day clothes, aka a big t-shirt and pajama shorts.

Riley took a look through Maya's almost empty fridge and took out a few slices of ham and a few slices of cheese. She also found some bread on her counter and made ham and cheese sandwiches. Maya poured two glasses of orange juice and made her way to the bay window in the apartment that they turned into a little breakfast nook when they moved in.

"Are you even eating proper meals anymore?" Riley had asked Maya as she placed the plates down for the two to eat. "I am, I just haven't had the chance to go to the store to pick up more food." Maya had said, which wasn't a total lie. She's been busy finding a new cat, meeting a boy who already has a girlfriend, fighting with her ex, and getting extremely drunk to forget her problems.

"How's the new school year? The kids getting worse every year?" Maya asked Riley. She's the kindergarten teacher at Loan Oak Elementary school. "The kids are fine, the year just started so I'm hoping they aren't as bad as last year. Those kids were out of control." Riley had complained as she took a bite out of her sandwich. "By the way, we're looking for a new art teacher this year. Our teacher now is moving to Florida, she leave in October. So if you wanna take the position, you'd start when she leaves." Riley says. Maya nods, "I'll think about it."

Just as they were finishing up, Riley had gotten a text from her dad: "Josh has a black eye. Any idea on how he got it? He can't remember." she gasped.

Josh, being Riley's uncle, had created a divide in the Matthews family. Riley, being Maya's best friend, took her side of course. Topanga, Riley's mom, had also sided with Maya since she's seen the bruises and marks left on Maya from Josh being abusive. She had even stepped in when Maya was getting yelled at by Josh, just a few steps away from her bakery. Poor Augie didn't know who to believe, so he just stayed silent and never took sides; but he sometimes acted like he chose his Uncle Josh over Maya, which she didn't blame him. Augie had never witnessed the abuse in any form, and Josh had been some what of a hero for Augie. It broke Maya's heart to know that Josh is his hero when he was far from it. But Cory, oh boy Cory didn't want to believe that his little brother could do such a thing. Of course, he loved Maya like she was his own, but he just didn't want to believe that his darling little brother was capable of hurting someone. He knew he was a drunk at times, but he chalked that up to the fact that he's got a lot of student loans to pay off and a job that pays him crap. None the less, the Matthews family stuck together as always.

Cory's decision made it hard for Maya to ever go back to Riley's old home. Just knowing that someone she had looked up to and saw as a father figure growing up would side with someone who abused her for years wasn't something she could handle. The day Cory Matthews chose his side was the day Maya refused to ever step foot in his house again.

"Uncle Josh has a black eye?!" Riley shouted at Maya, who is now rubbing her head from the sudden outburst. "Quit yelling! My hangovers don't go away so quickly." Maya grumbled. The unfortunate thing about Maya and drinking was that she could actually remember things that happened the night before instead of forgetting. Of course, if she drank enough, she could forget half the night. But slowly she'd start remembering what had happened.

"Wait a minute! Josh was there last night at the karaoke bar. He tried to take you home with him. He got into a fight with that guy who stood up for you. That's the guy who gave Josh a black eye!" Riley pieced everything together.

"Do you know who that guy was Maya?" she asked.

"No." wrong answer, Riley always knew when Maya was lying to her. She claims Maya has a slight twitch in her eye when she lies.

"Maya." she said.

"Okay fine, I know who that was. Just don't freak out too much when I tell you this okay?" Maya asked as she placed her dishes in the sink.

"Last night, I ran into him at the bar. When I got back to the table I had told you that he was the mystery guy that I met that ended up having a girlfriend. I told you not to look but you tried to anyway, and ended up getting light headed, so you didn't get to see him. Well anyway, he was the one that stopped Josh from taking me, and he was the one that punched Josh in the face, AFTER Josh had shoved him into a table." Maya explained.

"Woah, you mean I missed seeing the guy that got you all messed up, damn." Riley said. "Wait, how did you even meet this guy?"

"I met him at a vet office. I took a kitten in after I saw her on the side of the road, almost dead." Maya said, which reminded her that she needed to go pick up Olive today. "Which reminds me, I should have told you yesterday but I got a kitten. She's a black kitten and I named her Olive. I have to go pick her up today, and I'm really hoping I don't run into him, can you please come with me to get her?" Maya asked.

"Of course I'll come with you ya idiot! Why didn't you tell me you got a kitten! You know I love little animals!" Riley bounced a bit, completely forgetting about the text her father had sent her. Riley's hangover had completely gone away by now, lucky her. Riley always got lucky with hangovers, she'd have them for a few minutes; the longest hangover she had was one hour. Maya on the other hand would have her hangover for most of the day.

The girls ran into Maya's closet to change out of the lazy clothes and into something at least a little decent. Riley had settled on one of Maya's yellow sun dresses that flowed right above her knee. Maya had chosen a white v neck and black shorts.

Outside was rather humid despite the weather app saying it was going to be a cool day. The girls walked down to the vet's office. Maya had hoped and hoped that he wasn't working and that she could just run in and pick up Olive.

As they approached the door, Maya noticed there was no one at the front desk. She reached for the door to find it locked, but the lights were on. She knocked on the door, and continued until someone arrived to let her in; it reminded her of the night she had found Olive.

After a minute of knocking, Zay had appeared from around the corner. A sigh of relief escaped Maya's mouth. "Sorry about that, I had to get some dogs back in their kennels." he said as he let the girls in. "Are you guys closed today?" Maya had asked. "Yeah, but I'm here until our kennel tech can come in, we never leave the animals here unattended." Zay answered.

"I don't believe we've properly met, considering what happened these last two days. I'm Zay, I'm a vet tech here." he said reaching his hand out for Maya to shake. She took his hand in hers, "Maya."

"Oh believe me, I know who you are miss blonde beauty." he replied before turning to Riley, leaving Maya confused. "Hi, I'm Riley, Maya's best friend." she shook his hand. "Well aren't you adorable." he said as he dropped her hand. "Head on into the examination room that you were in last time, I'll go get Olive for you."

"Quick question, who was that cutie with the glasses from last night?" Zay had asked as they rounded the corner. Riley let out a giggle as Maya shook her head, "That was Isadora, but we call her Smackle." Riley had answered.

Maya had opened the door to the examination room, Riley following her in. Both girls took a seat on the chairs against the wall as they waited for Zay to come back with Olive. Riley was extremely excited to finally meet Olive.

Just a few seconds later, the door had swung open, but it wasn't Zay who was carrying the cast and small cone wearing Olive, it was Lucas.

Riley's jaw dropped as she saw just how beautiful Lucas was. Tall, green eyes, the chiseled jawline, and lets not forget that he looked extremely buff in his blue shirt that looked just a little too tight on him.

Maya quickly moved to close Riley's jaw before reaching to grab Olive from him. "Thank you." she said before grabbing Riley's arm and attempting to leave the room. "Wait" Lucas said reaching for Maya's arm, only for him to grab her in the exact spot Josh had bruised from the previous night. Maya winced in pain as she remembered the bruise. Lucas noticed and quickly let go of her arm.

"I need to go over some meds for Olive, please stay." Lucas asked softly. Maya agreed and set Olive down on the examination table. Riley could feel the awkwardness, and despite Maya's wishes, she quickly ran out of the room, leaving those two to settle their issues.

Lucas had pulled out a small pill bottle from his back pocket, "Here's her pain meds, you should give her one pill once a day, preferably morning time with her breakfast. Keep giving her the pills until she runs out. It should last you until the Saturday. By then, her stitches would be fully dissolved and that should heal up quickly." he said as he handed her the bottle. "I also request that you bring her in at the end of this week, free of charge, so I can determine how fast her leg is healing and when we can get this cast off her." he said pointing to Olive's leg. Olive had laid on the table, leaning on Maya's hand.

"That it?" Maya asked, desperately wanting to get out of there. It's bad enough that she had developed a small crush on him just from meeting him, but the fact that he saw her drunk and get into a fight with her abusive ex and had to save her from him was just horrible. She wanted to thank him, but right now it was too fresh, and she didn't want to face him.

"Maya, are you okay?" he softly asked her as he took a step toward her. She stepped back, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." he said, pointing to her arm, which showed off her dark purple bruise that popped out just a bit from her sleeve.

She covered her bruise with her hand, "I'm okay. Don't worry about it." she said before trying to pick up Olive. Lucas had stopped her.

"Maya, this is not okay. How that guy treated you last night is not okay. He put his hands on you and physically tried to remove you from the bar. If I didn't step in, who knows what would have happened. And he claimed to be you boyfriend. If that's how your boyfriend treats you, you might wanna reconsider the relationship." he said. "How bout you mind your own business huckleberry. I don't need relationship advice from my cat's vet. You're her vet, that's it, nothing more. So stay out of it."

That hurt him. "Fine." he said not convinced that Maya was okay. "See you on Friday for her check up." he said before opening the door for her to leave.

Maya picked up Olive and carried her out to the lobby where Riley and Zay were talking. "Let's go Riley." Maya said as she passed the two of them and walked straight for the door. She was annoyed. She pushed the door and left the building as fast as she could. She waiting for Riley outside, as she said goodbye and thanked the boys for everything.

As Riley left the building, she noticed the little kitten in Maya's arms. She pulled the kitten right out of Maya's arms, "Wow, Lucas sure is a hot piece of eye candy, no wonder you were all messed up. I'd be messed up too if he flirted with me and I found out he was taken." Riley said as she pet little Olive.

"That's not something an engaged person should be saying" Maya joked.

"And I was not messed up and he did not flirt with me. I just I- I don't know what happened. All I know if everything got messed up after last night." she sighed, "When did life get so complicated?" Maya asked as she dragged herself down the street. "I don't know peaches, all I know is now you have a kitten, and she'll brighten up your life." Riley said, trying to find the bright side in this situation.

"True." Maya started. "Which reminds me, wanna head to the pet store to help me pick out some things for her?"

"You don't have to ask me twice!" Riley said as they skipped on over to the nearest pet store.


	5. Chapter 5

Maya woke up on Monday morning, bright and early to feed Olive her breakfast and give her the pain meds. Olive was such a good kitten, she didn't fight Maya when she had to shove that tiny pill down her throat, and ate all of her food like she hadn't eaten before (which is something Maya thought was true).

Maya had spent every day watching Olive hobble around with her cast, freak out a bit when she remembered about the cone around her neck, try to play despite her temporary disabilities, and rub her tiny little body against Maya any time she could. Maya had never been much of an animal person, she never had any pets growing up and never intended on owning one now. But after spending one full day with Olive, she couldn't imagine life without her. Riley was right when she said this kitten would make her life better.

Speaking of Riley, she had come over after school everyday this week to play with Olive. Now Riley was the animal person. Although she never owned a pet either, she had always loved them and dreamed of owning a bunny farm in middle school. Now her best friend has a furry friend that she can play with any time she wants!

* * *

Maya was dreading this week, mostly because she knew on Friday she'd have to face him again.

She had finally decided that they both had a few days to cool down after the little fight they had, and she'd thank him for stopping Josh.

Maya never liked to ask for help with anything in her life, especially her relationship with Josh.

For a while, no one even knew Josh was abusive, Maya hid that very well. She hid it well for almost two years. The abuse slowly started after a year of their relationship, and had continued for two years before everyone found out.

* * *

 _At the beginning of their relationship, Maya was so excited. She had finally gotten a chance with her childhood crush. The beginning of their relationship was everything she had hoped for. Finally someone who liked her and paid attention to her. The guys in high school and college were shitty to her, and never really cared about her. So when Josh finally decided to stop playing the long game, and actually try things out with her, Maya couldn't contain her excitement._

 _They went on dates, many dates. Romantic dinners, picnics, movie dates, painting classes, road trips to museums they hadn't been to before, you name it, they did it. It was the relationship Maya had dreamed about with him. And it all came crumbling down once Josh started to drink, a lot._

 _It started off as casual drinking, he did that a lot with Maya and his friends. Work had started getting a little more stressful for him, which caused him to start drinking a little more. Maya noticed the slight change in his behavior about a year after they started dating._

 _Maya would ask Josh if he wanted to go out for lunch or run to the store with her, he'd yell at her and tell her to stop being so needy and that she was bothering him. Everything was verbal at first. He'd get annoyed anytime she opened her mouth. After a while, it started becoming physical._

 _It was very subtle at first, Maya didn't even notice he was doing it. It started with slight shoves; he never wanted to be intimate with Maya unless he was heavily drunk, he didn't even want to kiss her unless he had a few drinks. It slowly turned into him shoving her into the wall anytime she'd try and help him. He'd grab her and shake her a lot, telling her she was worthless. Telling her that she was pathetic to wait for him for so long. Pathetic that she waited so many years for him and couldn't find anyone that was the slightest bit interested in her throughout those years._

 _But despite all that, Maya stayed. Despite all the make up she has used to cover every bruise he had given her, she stayed._

 _Why?_

 _Because she loved him._

 _She was madly and completely in love with him._

 _Of course she was. He was Uncle Josh. He was Riley's cute uncle that she had a crush on since they were kids. He was the older college guy that high school girls drool over._

 _So in love that she saw right past all the abuse._

 _Because after everything he does to her one night, he'll wake up the next morning, pull her into his arms and apologize for everything he had done and that he never meant anything he said._

 _And she believed him._

 _He had complete control over her, and he knew it._

 _Maya hid that abuse for two years. For two entire years she was being abused by Josh, mentally and physically. She told absolutely no one, and hid every bruise perfectly._

 _But one night he got extremely rough. They were coming back from a night at the bar. Maya hadn't drank any alcohol since she knew she had to get Josh back to his apartment. They were walking up the stairs to his second floor apartment when he got mad at her._

 _So mad._

 _It was a mad that Maya hadn't seen before, and she's seen a lot._

 _Josh's eyes were filled with rage. He grabbed Maya by the wrists and shook her, "YOU'RE A PATHETIC PIECE OF SHIT!" he had yelled before pushing her right down the flight of stairs behind them._

 _She tumbled down the concrete stairs for what felt like forever. When she landed at the bottom, she looked up to see him laughing. His laugh scared her. She couldn't believe that he had just done that._

 _She winced in pain trying to get up. Her head hurt, her ankle hurt, her back hurt; everything hurt, especially her heart._

 _When she looked up, he was gone._

 _Luckily someone had been walking up the stairs and found her. They had helped her up and rushed her to the hospital, despite Maya saying she was fine and didn't need to see a doctor._

 _When she got to the hospital, they contacted her emergency contacts, Katy and Riley. Katy and Shawn were out of the country, but told the doctors that they'd be on the next flight home. Riley was the first one to arrive at the hospital, the rest of her family would be there soon._

" _I tripped and fell down the stairs." Maya had said in response to Riley asking what had happened, her eye making a slight twitch, something only Riley seemed to notice._

" _You're lying." Riley had said._

 _No matter what Riley had asked, Maya would stick with her story of tripping._

 _Riley knew Maya was a little clumsy, but not so clumsy that she'd trip and fall down the stairs, especially while sober._

" _So you just so happened to trip going down the stairs at Josh's apartment, where was he?" she had asked._

" _I had dropped him off at home, he drank a little too much with his friends and I told him I'd take him home." Maya had said, "He didn't know I fell, and I don't want him to know." she said._

 _Riley wasn't convinced. She knew something was wrong and she was determined to figure it out._

 _The doctor had told Maya that she had a minor concussion and she sprained her ankle and her left wrist. She'd have to wear a boot around her ankle for a month as well as a sling around her arm._

 _From that day on, Riley had kept an eye on Maya. She had watched her every more. How she'd react to certain movements and actions. Riley had come to the conclusion that maybe she's scared of something or someone. She had asked Maya about her dad, since she's been through a lot with her dad, asking if he's come back and no one knew. Maya denied that claim, it just wasn't true._

 _But what Riley didn't know was that she was enduring the same pain she had felt when her dad was around. Abuse was just a pattern in Maya's life, she couldn't avoid it._

 _One night, the Matthews had invited Riley and Maya over for dinner. Of course Josh was there for dinner. And of course he had a few drinks before the girls had even arrived._

 _Maya hadn't expected him to be there. She hadn't been in contact with him for quite a few days, aka josh hadn't gotten back to her 50 calls and 100s of text messages. She wasn't sure how the night was gonna go, especially since Josh hadn't seen her since he pushed her down the stairs. Maya thought that maybe, just maybe, he felt guilty for doing so._

 _He approached her, looking at the brace and boot and laughed to himself, "Pathetic" he whispered to her, sending chills down Maya's spine._

 _He didn't care._

 _But tonight was different. Riley was paying attention to every little detail, trying to figure out why Maya had lied about how she got hurt._

 _Riley had heard what Josh had said to Maya. She heard it clear as day. She noticed the fear in Maya's eyes as he moved closer to her. Riley couldn't stand by and watch her best friend live in fear, so she did what she normally would, she stepped in._

 _Riley had stopped Josh and pushed him away from her. She had caused a scene and everyone was asking Riley why she would do such a thing._

" _Josh is abusing Maya." Riley claimed. The room fell silent. Maya stood there in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. How could Riley possibly know, she was so careful to make sure no one knew._

" _What? That's crazy. Riley, you can't just accuse people of such a thing." Cory had told her. "But it's true. He's the one who pushed Maya down the stairs!" that one was by chance, and Riley had hoped she got that right. Maya's reaction told Riley that she was right without having to say a word._

 _Riley's accusation caused a huge fight in the Matthews' apartment. Cory was yelling at Riley, Riley was yelling at Josh, Topanga was trying to calm everyone down, Auggie had gone into his room, and Maya stood there by the door. She was scared. Her secret was out and everyone was fighting. That was something she didn't want._

 _All the fighting and the pain made Maya tired and upset. She broke down, crying and crying, so hard that she collapsed._

 _Riley was the first one at her side, pulling her up to see if she was okay._

 _A little while after, they were at the hospital once again, the same room she was in just days before actually._

" _Maya had fainted due to a lot of stress, and she's very dehydrated. She needs to rest and drink more fluids." the doctor had told the girls. Riley had taken it upon herself to take Maya to the hospital after she had fainted, and she wanted to go alone._

 _As they were leaving the hospital, Riley wouldn't stop pushing Maya until she told the truth. "Maya, why won't you tell me what's going on? I'm your best friend and I'm on your side." she said in the car. They were parked in the parking lot of the hospital, Riley refusing to leave until Maya talked._

 _And she did._

 _Maya broke down in the car. She was tired of keeping this a secret and having to deal with this alone. So, she finally came clean. She told her how it started and how far it's gotten. She told Riley gruesome stories on how he'd basically rape her on nights that he was heavily drunk and wanted a release. She told her about all the slaps and whacks she would receive if she didn't clean up his apartment after he had trashed it. She told Riley everything._

 _Riley had broken down as well, hurt that her best friend was going through such a thing for so long and she had no idea. "You have to break up with him." she had told Maya, but Maya refused._

 _Josh was the love of her life, and she couldn't leave him._

 _When Riley and Maya had arrived home from the hospital, Riley had told her parents the truth about Josh and Maya. Maya had no choice but to tell them._

" _My brother would never do such a thing!" Cory had yelled. Maya jumped, she thought for sure, of all people, Mr. Matthews would believe her. He had been like a father figure to her all her life. She couldn't believe that he didn't believe her._

" _I'm sorry Maya, I want to believe you, I really do. But I know my brother, and he wouldn't do such a thing. I just don't believe that." he said. His words hurt her more than the physical abuse. She had hoped dearly that he would believe her. But since he didn't, she had no choice but to never return. She couldn't look at Mr. Matthews and be okay._

* * *

 _After her second trip to the hospital, Maya had been locked up in her apartment per Riley's orders. Riley was determined to make sure nothing bad ever happens to Maya again. She was going to stay by her side until she came to her senses and dumped Josh._

 _It took some convincing, especially since Maya was completely and madly in love with him, despite everything he's done to her. She was completely brainwashed by him._

 _Riley had enlisted Katy and Topanga to help convince Maya to break up with him. Topanga had very good points, using her legal background to give examples of what happens to abuse victims that don't leave the relationship._

 _Katy on the other hand, used her title as mom to knock some sense into her._

" _Baby girl, I'm your mother. I love and support you in whatever you choose to do in life. But I can't support your relationship with Josh. I know exactly how you feel honey, I've been in your position before. But you need to get out now. Please don't end up like me. You deserve better. Please baby." her mom said, holding back tears. It hurt Katy, a lot, to know that her daughter was in a horrible relationship like this for two years and told no one about it. She partly felt like this was her fault though. She knew this type of relationship all too well; and maybe that's why Maya stayed for so long, because it became normal for her._

 _Maya didn't know how to respond. She hated seeing her mom so hurt._

 _She had a lot to think about. The people she cares about the most are here trying to help her get out of a relationship that she wasn't even ready to leave yet. But she knew they were right. She was tired of constantly being pushed around and being told that she's worthless. She was ready, and they were ready to help her._

* * *

Friday had come around and Maya was not ready to see Lucas. She was actually hoping that he wouldn't be working today, or she'd get there after his shift had ended.

But it was as if he was waiting for her. When she arrived, he was there to greet her.

"Good afternoon Miss Hart." he said super official like,

"Doctor Friar." she had responded as she entered the examination room.

Maya had pulled Olive out of her crate and placed her on top of the examining table. Her cone had come off and her stitches had dissolved and healed.

Lucas had taken Olive in the back to take a quick x-ray on her to see how much her rib had healed. Maya had waited patiently in the examination room, trying to think of a way to say thanks for what he did for her just the week before.

"Well her rib has healed up very well. As for her leg, it's healing quickly, but she still needs the cast. I'd say 3 more weeks and she should be all healed up." Lucas said upon return with Olive in hand.

Maya had taken Olive back from him, and without even thinking, the worlds flew out of her mouth, "Thank you Lucas, for everything really. From helping Olive out to helping me at the bar, I just really appreciate everything you've done for me." she stopped.

"Well you're welcome Maya." a smile crept on Lucas' face. He had been confused for so long, feeling as if he had done something wrong in Maya's eyes, but her gratitude had changed his mind. "Can I just ask you one thing, and I don't mean to push, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to." he added. Maya nodded.

"Why are you even dating someone like that?" he asked.

Maya was hesitant to answer. She wasn't with Josh anymore, why was that so hard for her to say? It took her a minute to get the words out.

"I'm uhm, I'm not." she stuttered. "I haven't been for a while now. He was very uh very possessive and he keeps lingering around every now and then. But it's a lot better than how it used to be." she admitted.

Lucas was at a loss for words. He was relieved that she wasn't with him, but he was still mad that she still has to deal with him.

"It's not a big deal anymore. It's not something I can't handle. I'm okay, really. But thank you for your help." she said, ending the awkward silence that had fallen between them.

"Y'know, we kinda started off on the wrong foot. How's about we start off fresh?" Lucas had suggested as he stuck his hand out toward Maya. "Friends?"

She didn't move. She had to think this through. Just a few days ago, she was getting drunk partially because she was trying to get over him, and now he wanted to be friends.

She didn't want to shake his hand. She kind of wanted to forget about him. But a part of her wanted to see where this would go, so she shook his hand, "Friends."

"So now that we're friends, we should uh exchange numbers." Lucas suggested, scratching the back of his neck, nervous for what Maya would say.

She looked a bit confused.

"Uh ya know, just in case you need help with Olive, so you don't have to come here. Unless you'd rather just come here. It's up to you really." Lucas stammered.

Maya stood there and giggled, "You're such a huckleberry." she joked before pulling out her phone and exchanging numbers with him.

Just as Maya thought things were going well between the two, the door came swinging open and a drunk girl walks in.

"Becca, what are you doing here?" Lucas had asked, moving toward the girl who was close to falling straight on her face.

"Lukey" she said as she leaned forward, almost falling. Lucas reacted quickly and caught her before she fell. He had walked her to the closest chair and had her sit there and calm down.

She sat there quietly, and soon she started to cry. Maya had felt awkward being there, especially since she doesn't know who this woman was. She had wanted to leave. She popped Olive back into her crate and tried to sneak around the crying girl. Lucas had been leaning on the desk, his face in his hands, trying to put together what's going on right now.

As Maya tried to quietly make her way out of the room, the girl's head popped up, grabbed her arm and stopped her. "You." she said looking right at Maya. It took her a minute, but Maya finally realized who she was. She was Lucas' girlfriend, the one she saw him kissing in the alleyway just the week before.

"You're the reason." she had said through the tears. "Becca no." Lucas had said.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about." Maya had said to her, as she pulled her arm out of her grip. Maya had stepped back into the room, curious as to why this girl is blaming Maya for something she most likely didn't do.

"You're the reason Lucas doesn't love me anymore." she blabbered.

Maya froze, almost dropping the crate carrying Olive. "What?" she said looking over at Becca then back to Lucas.

Lucas was in shock. He didn't really know how to respond to that.

He had moved over to the seat next to Becca. "Becca, she isn't the reason. And I know this sounds harsh, but you were the reason for me deciding to end things with you." he started. She had moved her focus from Maya to Lucas.

"Becca you were too needy and controlling. You'd constantly ask me not to go to work so I'd spend the day with you. You don't even have a job anymore and you're in no rush to find a new one, so you just mope around all day and wait for me to come home. I'd come home from work and you'd be waiting for me just to yell at me for being gone for so long. I just couldn't take it anymore." Lucas had explained to her. At this point, Maya was extremely awkward, but couldn't look away.

"Oh Lucas, you make me sound crazy." she said through her tears.

"You kind of are crazy. That's not even half of the crazy things you'd do." he said back to her.

Maya couldn't help but laugh a little at his response. But she quickly learned that she shouldn't have done that. Becca had turned to face her and Maya had fallen silent.

"No. It's not possible that you broke up with me for those reasons. You showed no signs of wanting to leave until you met her that day. It is her fault!" she said jumping up to try and attack Maya. She had reached for Maya's neck but Maya caught her arms with her free hand, lightly placed Olive's crate down on the ground, and pushed her back into the chair.

"Will you chill out? Lucas was right, you are crazy." Maya started, "I think it's time you leave. Get yourself a cab, go home and get over him. He's moved on and it's time you do the same." Maya had said to her.

"But, I love Lukey, I can't." she had said softly, holding back more tears.

"Well it's too bad. He's with me now. You're gonna have no choice." Maya said moving closer to her. "And if you ever try this again, I'll end you." she said, her voice filled with malice.

Becca caught on and slumped down as Maya released her hands.

"I'm sorry Lukey." she said before getting up and stumbling out of the room.

"Wow" was all Lucas could say. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He knew Becca was a little crazy, and he expected her to do something to retaliate the break up, he just didn't think she'd come to his work and physically attempt to attack someone.

"Thank you Maya. You really didn't have to help me out like that." he finally said breaking the silence.

Maya had moved to pick up Olive's crate and check on her. She had grabbed the rest of her things before starting to walk out, "That was my way of repaying you for helping me at the bar." she said before walking out of the vet and back to her apartment.

She left leaving Lucas a little dumbfounded at what he had just seen. He was also a little confused. But one thing he wasn't confused about was that Maya Hart was a badass.


	6. Chapter 6

"You really told her that you and Lucas were dating?" Riley said as she moved her plates around to make space for her things.

"Well not exactly." Maya trailed off.

"Well you might as well have said that!" Riley said as she pulled her wedding binder out of her big purse and placed it in front of her.

This morning's meal was dedicated to helping Riley plan her wedding. She wanted a spring wedding and she wanted to plan it herself. But with Riley being a teacher, occupied Monday thru Friday, she couldn't plan everything alone. Maya ended up volunteering to help her plan the wedding since she basically knew every detail of Riley's dream wedding. Since Maya worked from home and not a 9-5 job, and didn't have to work every day, she had a lot of free time to help Riley out.

On the subway ride to the restaurant, Maya had decided to tell Riley about her little altercation with Lucas' ex yesterday in his office. Maya had seen this type of sad and desperate before, hell she was in the same position not too long ago with Josh. She knew that if she told Becca that Lucas was with someone else, she'd give up. Because as much as she loved Lucas, she knew that as long as he was happy, even if he was with someone else, Becca would be happy for him.

And it just so happened that she said that the two of them were together, when they obviously weren't.

"Morning guys!" Smackle said as she took a seat next to Riley. Missy followed, slouching down into her seat, making it known that she has a hangover and doesn't appreciate being woken up this early in the morning. Alicia, Riley's teacher friend from work, had taken a seat next to Maya.

"Perfect! Now that we are all here, let's begin." Riley pulled out some envelops from her purse and handed them out according to the names on top. The girls all opened up the envelope to find a card with a necklace in the middle. "Now it's my turn to pop the question. Will you be my bridesmaid?" Is written on it in calligraphy, something Riley picked up for this exact moment, and the necklace is a silver chain with a plain silver band ring in the middle. There was a drawing on top of the silver band in the shape of a diamond, to symbolize a proposal ring.

Maya's card, on the other hand, was different.

On the front of the card it read, "Now act surprised as if you didn't know this was coming." in calligraphy. When she opened it, it read "You've been by my side through thick and thin, and I want you to be there when I marry him!" on the top. The bottom read "Will you be my Maid of Honor?" with a silver chained necklace with a silver band ring and a small pearl in the middle of it.

The girls had gotten a little emotional at how cute Riley was. She waited patiently for them to read their cards and when the girls started to tear up, Riley knew that was the perfect way to start planning her wedding. "I need you all to wear those necklaces on the day of the wedding, so don't loose them." she said before looking right at Missy, who was known to lose things easily. Missy raised her hands in surrender and everyone laughed.

The girls all said yes just as the waitress had come over to take their orders. They all ordered some breakfast before continuing with the wedding planning.

Riley wrote everything down in her wedding binder. It was filled with pictures of possible dresses for both her and her bridesmaids, dress options for her mom, flower arrangements, diy projects, and a whole lot more. She opened it up to the first page that had a calendar opened to the month of March.

Riley had told them that she wanted a spring wedding, and since it was coming by fast there was no time to waste. She announced that her, Maya and Charlie will be going around to churches and wedding sites next week to pick a place and hopefully secure a date then. Riley had also, finally, settled on her color scheme. She chose gold, peach and green. Gold and peach since those colors made her happy, and she added green since it was Charlie's favorite color. She thought they worked well together and it was set for her wedding.

After talking about colors, she told the girls that their bridesmaids dresses will be peach colored, or gold depending on how shopping goes. She wants the girls to all wear strapless dresses that go down to their feet, except Maya. Since Maya was the maid of honor, she got a different dress. Same color, just a different style. Riley pulled out some sample pictures that she had gotten off the internet just to show the girls the styles she wanted for them. Obviously not those dresses but something similar.

Riley wanted to do bridesmaid dress shopping before wedding dress shopping. So the weekend after her, Maya and Charlie hunt for a location will be the weekend the girls go hunting for their bridesmaids dresses. Riley wanted her wedding dress shopping to be private, to bring a bigger surprise to her wedding party. She only wanted the two most important people to be there with her when she finds her dress, and that was Maya and her mother.

The girls enjoyed their breakfast, sharing stories of when they were in high school, and Alicia sharing stories of Riley in her classroom. It was a nice way to start off the morning.

As the girls were all heading out of the restaurant, it donned on Riley that she hadn't thought about a photographer yet.

"Maya! I forgot about a photographer!" Riley panicked.

"Don't worry about it honey, we know a really good photographer!" Maya said trying to calm her down.

"That's right! Can you go ask him if he'd shoot for the wedding? We haven't talked since I told him I was getting married to Charlie." Riley said,

"Sure honey, I'll head over there now." Maya said as she packed up her things.

The girls hugged before walking their separate ways, Riley on her way home and Maya on her way to Farkle's apartment.

* * *

"I'm sorry Maya but I just can't photograph Riley's wedding." Farkle said as he took a seat across from Maya in his apartment.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I just don't think she should be getting married so fast. Didn't they just start dating?" Farkle asked nervously.

"Farkle, they've been dating for more than two years. What's wrong with you?" Farkle didn't answer. He just sat there.

"Farkle. I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything." Maya said trying to get him to talk.

Farkle didn't wanna tell Maya. He didn't want to say it out loud because then it would be true and things would change. But he knew he could trust Maya, she was one of his best friends after all.

"Okay fine. I just I don't like that Riley is getting married to Charlie." he started, "I don't like it because I don't like anyone for Riley. She deserves the world and no one can give that to her. I just don't like her with Charlie."

"Because you want to be with her?" Maya said, more like a statement and not a question.

Farkle's eyes shot straight up to Maya's. How did she know?

"I've known since we were in middle school Farkle." Maya responded, Farkle just realized he said his thoughts out loud.

"I always knew you loved Riley, even if you claimed that you loved the two of us equally, I always knew you loved Riley a little more." Maya said. "And there's nothing wrong with that." she said as she moved over to the seat next to Farkle.

"You can't tell her!" Farkle shouted.

"I know sweetie, and I won't. You will." Maya said as she held Farkle's hand in hers.

"I can't tell her. It'll ruin her perfect wedding. Not like me telling her that I'm in love with her will change anything. She's in love with Charlie, and that's how it's gonna be for the rest of our live." Farkle says as he takes his hand away from Maya to walk away.

"Here's how I see it, you could tell her how you feel and see how she feels back. Or you can keep it a secret from her and watch her marry a guy that isn't right for her." Maya said catching Farkle's attention.

"Do you not like Charlie?" he asked.

"I don't hate the kid, he's nice and all but something just isn't right with him. I can't really put my finger on it." Maya trailed off. "Either way, I say you should tell her how you feel."

Maya got up to leave his apartment. She walked toward the door, but before leaving she took one last look at Farkle, "I'll tell Riley you can't photograph her wedding. But the rest is up to you to tell her."

* * *

As Maya walked up the stairs to her apartment something didn't feel right about going home. Something in her told her not to go home. She pushed the thought away as she made it up the last few steps. As she turned the corner to walk to her door she saw it, the reason why she was feeling uneasy about going home. Josh was sitting next to her door, waiting.

Maya jumped and tried to turn around as quietly as possible to avoid being noticed. But luck wasn't on her side because Josh saw her, "Maya, please wait." he called out to her.

She froze at the sound of his voice. It sounded different today.

He caught up to her and reached for her hand. As she felt his fingers trying to grab hers, she quickly pulled away. She slowly turned around to him, a little scared as to what is going to happen next. To her surprise, when she turns to him, he isn't drunk.

"Maya, I came here to apologize to you. I know no words can make up for what I've put you through these last two years. Hell, I know nothing I do will make up for it. But I want you to know that I'm deeply sorry for everything." he started. Maya stood there, still frozen in her place. She thought she was dreaming for a second, she couldn't believe he was standing in front of her, sober and apologizing.

"I'm sober now, but you could probably already tell. And I'm gonna stay sober. I'm gonna check myself into rehab, I'm gonna get better. Anyway, I wanted to say sorry. And I won't be bothering you anymore. I'll be gone for quite a while and I want you to know that you'll never have to worry about me coming for you." he said before starting to walk away.

"I loved you Maya, I really did, I need you to know that. I wasn't well, and I took all my frustration out on you. None of it was your fault, you were the most amazing and supportive person I've ever met in my life. It was all my fault. I promise I'll never do it again." he stopped and just stood there. Maya stood there as well, not facing him. She closed her eyes and felt a tear roll down her face. "I wish you the best Maya." Josh said before leaving the building.

Maya felt herself starting to break down. She ran toward her door and quickly let herself in. She dropped right there by the entrance and let herself cry. Olive wobbled by and noticed Maya on the floor and took complete advantage of being able to rub herself on Maya's face. When she felt the tiny kitten's fur on her face she immediately stopped crying and pulled Olive into a hug. Olive was always able to make Maya feel instantly better.

Hours had gone by and Maya just spent that time with Olive. She loved this kitten more than she'd ever loved anything in her life. Olive came to her at the most perfect time in her life.

But Josh's words hung over her every second. He's sober. He's going to rehab. He loved her.

She couldn't stop thinking about it and she desperately wanted to. So when the 9 o'clock hour rolled by, she threw on a plunging cut out t-shirt with a white bralette, jeans and her ankle boots before leaving her apartment to hit the bar.

She arrived at York Tavern, the bar she was just at recently, and the bouncer remembered the short blonde. "You gonna kick some guy's ass this time kid?" he joked. "The night is still young, who knows." she tossed her hair behind her before walking into the bar.

She took a stool at the bar and ordered herself a beer. She looked to her left and noticed the guy next to her looked very familiar.

"Zay?" she asked. The guy next to her shot his head up and looked right at Maya.

"Oh my, it's the blonde beauty herself." he smiled. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I'm here to forget." she said as she grabbed her beer from the bartender. "What about you?"

"I broke up with my girl earlier today, so I guess I'm here to forget as well." he said holding his beer out to her.

"Then let's forget together." Maya said as they tapped their beers together before taking a swig.

A few beers and a few shots later, Zay and Maya had become really good friends. They even stumbled their way over to the same karaoke bar they were in just a week ago. Maya had learned about Zay's love for Disney movies, and their classic love songs. So, naturally, Maya suggested he get up on stage and sing a Disney song. But it backfired because he'd only sing if she got up there with him. So after a shot of tequila, she was up on stage with him belting out the lyrics to A Whole New World.

A few Disney songs later, the pair were off the stage and back at the bar for another beer. Maya had to admit, the two sounded great together up there. If she didn't have to get at least a little drunk before jumping up on stage, she'd probably want to do this every weekend.

But of course, Maya can't go to a bar without some type of trouble following her now can she?

Zay left Maya at the bar to go to the restroom. She had ordered another beer and sat there as the bartender popped the cap off the bottle and handed it to her. She took a big swig of the bottle before a young man had approached her. Her vision was a bit blurry but she could have sworn it was Josh. But as soon as the guy spoke, she knew it wasn't him. This guy's voice was softer, and way less scary.

He used a pick up line as an opener and Maya snorted at how cheesy he was. But she wasn't interested. She wanted to drink her beer in peace and wait for her friend to come back from the bathroom. She shoo-ed him off but he didn't take a hint. He stayed right next to her and talked on and on about how Maya was a good singer and that she should come and hang out with him and his friends. Maya politely declined and turned back to her beer, once again the guy not taking a hint. He reached out for her hand to pull her toward him and his friends but that's when Maya lost it. She was tired of being handled by men who don't know when to stop. By now, it was a reflex for her to just grab the guy's hand and twist.

Unbelievable how men think it's okay to just handle a woman, especially after they have already said no.

The guy's yelp rang through the whole bar, causing Zay to jump as he exited the bathroom. He saw the guy who screamed crouching over in pain and Maya standing in front of him. He immediately ran over to her side to see if she was okay. Maya nodded and went back to her beer. "You crazy bitch!" the guy yelled as he went back for Maya, only for her to stick her leg out and have him run into her heel. He crouched over in pain once again. Zay laughed at the fact that she managed to get in right in the crotch.

As fun as it was to see Maya hurt this pathetic guy, Zay thought it was best if they left the bar before more trouble follows. He pulled out a $50 from his wallet and handed it to the bartender before helping Maya off the stool and out the doors.

He didn't drive here, and his apartment was way to far to walk to when he's drunk. And there's the fact that Maya was with him and a lot more drunk than he was. He pulled out his phone and called the only person he knew that would come out and pick them up on the street at 1am.

They sat on the bench outside of the bar, waiting patiently for their ride to come get them. The whole time they sat out there, Maya just complained. Zay didn't know much about her in the first place. At their first encounter, he knew she was a sassy little thing, especially since she almost broke the front door of the vet's office trying to get out of the rain with her kitten. Then there was the encounter at the bar, where he got a good look at happy Maya before she disappeared the second that guy, who he learned through Lucas that that was her ex, came and started to grab her.

But this complaining was a different Maya. She was vulnerable. Her complaining consisted of her repeating, "Why didn't he get sober when he was with me?" and "Why didn't he want to get his life together before?" along with "How dare he say he loved me." Her words were jumbled together, but Zay got the point. Her ex was a dick and he treated her like shit.

Zay didn't really know what to tell her, he's never been in a situation like this before. So he sat there, rubbed her back, and just listened to her sob. It was something Maya deeply appreciated, even if she didn't say it.

After a while, a truck pulled up in front of the bar. Zay lightly tapped the now sleepy blonde resting on his shoulder to wake up. She grumbled as she tried to stand up, only for her to fall sideways, and not where Zay was standing. She closed her eyes as she braced for impact but she was caught by a tall blonde cowboy.

"Hey Sundance, nice catch." she joked as he picked her back up. A smile appeared on Lucas' face as he helped her walk to the car. Zay helped her get strapped in as Lucas made his way to the driver's seat.

"Okay, where am I dropping you off Maya?" he asked, turning around to see her passed out in the back seat. The boys laughed at how adorable she was back there before heading back to their apartment.

Lucas had decided that instead of waking the sleeping blonde up, he'd carry her up to their apartment. A quick elevator ride up to the 4th floor and they were home. Lucas placed Maya in his bed before slipping her boots off and placing them on the floor near the bed. He covered her with the blanket before leaving his room to sleep on the couch.

* * *

At 7am on the dot, Maya opens her eyes and stretches out a bit. She pulled herself up to sit straight only for her to feel light headed and fall back into the bed. She groaned as she felt the pounding in her head. These damn hangovers.

She reached to her right to pet Olive like she normally does every morning, but she didn't feel her. She looked to her right to see the bed empty. Not only that, but this wasn't her bed. She took in the room and realized she was in a guy's room.

It took her a minute, but she remembers running into Zay at the bar, drinking way too much and having to crash at his place since she wasn't sober enough to get home. She looked at the shelf to her right and saw cowboy hats displayed at the top and trophies filling the spaces on the shelves. That could only mean one thing…..she was in HIS room.

She covered her head with the blanket and sighed. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and was happy to find it with a little battery left. She shot a text to Riley saying, "Can you do me a HUGE favor and run over to my apartment to feed Olive. I went out last night and got a little too drunk to walk home, so I crashed at my mom's place. I'm not gonna make it home in time to feed her. She gets one scoop of kibble. Please and thank you!"

She waited a minute before receiving a text back from Riley, "On it!"

Maya slumped further down in the bed and slowly fell back asleep.

When she woke up, and hour later, she pulled herself up slowly. She didn't sleep her hangover off like she hoped she would, so she could still feel the pounding in her head. She pulled the sheets off her face to see Lucas staring into his closet…..half naked!

He had a towel wrapped around the lower half of his body like he had just come out of the shower.

"Oh my god!" my whispered before covering her face with the blanket. She cursed to herself; not only because she saw Lucas half naked and actually enjoyed it, but because her head hurt even more. These damn hangovers suck. Lucas noticed and jumped. He quickly grabbed any clothes and threw it on before walking over to Maya.

"Hey, I have clothes on, its safe to come out." he said standing near the bed. Maya slowly lifted her head from under the covers to see that Lucas did in fact have clothes on. She sighed and pulled herself up. "Sorry about that." he said as he handed her some asprin and a glass of water. "Here, to help with the hangover."

She thanked him and threw the pill down her throat.

"Thank you Lucas, for letting me crash here last night." she said as she got up and started putting her boots on.

"No problem." he said as he watched her carefully.

She stood up, not too fast, and waved bye to him before exiting his room. She found the front door and started walking before she was stopped by Lucas. "Wait."

"I don't work today, did you uhm maybe want to get something to eat?" he asked as he scratched the back of his neck, something he did when he was really nervous.

Maya had to admit, she was hungry. Her hangover wouldn't be as horrible if she had some food in her stomach, so she said yes.

"Uhm Lucas, I hate to ask you this, but can I borrow a shirt? My shirt smells like the alcohol I drank last night and I'd rather not be reminded of my horrible choice to get wasted last night." Maya asked him. He let out a soft laugh before walking to his closet and pulling out a blue v-neck. She tossed her shirt off in the middle of his living room and threw on his shirt right in front of him. The shirt was way too big for her. So she rolled it up and knotted the bottom so that it was like a crop top on her. She fixed the shirt a little before looking up at Lucas who was in awe of her. He liked the sight of her in his shirt, it suited her.

"Okay cowboy enough staring, let's go eat!" she said as she made her way for the front door, Lucas following behind her.

They got into his truck as he drove down to a small retro diner that he had found a few weeks ago.

"How have I lived in New York my whole life and I've never seen this place before. It's adorable." Maya said as they took a seat in a booth.

You're adorable. Lucas thought. Or so he thought because he saw the tiny blonde now blushing at his comment. He said it out loud.

Now embarrassed, Lucas lifted his menu to cover his face that now has a light red color to it.

The two looked over the menus quietly before a waitress came by to take their order. "What can I get you two cuties?" the older woman said.

"I'll have your breakfast special with bacon and a cup of coffee." he said as he handed the menu to the woman. She wrote down his order then turned to Maya, "I'll have the meat lovers omelette and a shortstack on the side." she said before handing the menu over, "Oh and a cup of coffee too." she smiled.

"I'll be back with your order soon." the woman said before turning to go to the kitchen.

Lucas and Maya had picked up a little small talk to fill the silence. It was a bit awkward, more like Lucas was still feeling embarrassed about saying his thoughts out loud.

A few minutes later the waitress came by with their meals. The breakfast special was big enough to make Lucas full just looking at it. Maya had two meals, both bigger than the size of her head. "You're gonna finish all of that?" he questioned.

"Don't doubt a small girl's appetite!" she said as she started to scarf down the omelette.

Their breakfast stopped being so awkward once Lucas let loose a bit. They talked about a lot of things. Lucas had told her about Becca, who Maya put in her place not to long ago. He told her that they had dated on and off for the last two years. It had been nothing but drama for those two. But Lucas had become so used to her nagging and whining that he didn't pay much attention to her when he was still with her. Maya, on the other hand, didn't want to go into too much detail about her ex. Lucas already knew he was pretty abusive, just by the way the confrontation at the bar was handled. All she told him was that they were together for almost three years, and he wasn't always that horrible. Before he became horrible, they actually had a really good relationship. She also told him that Josh was her best friend's uncle.

The two had spent almost two hours in the diner, laughing and talking story. It was the best breakfast the two have had in a long time.

As Lucas asked for the check, he saw that Maya had finished both meals. "Damn shortstack, you scarfed those plates." he said in shock.

"Shortstack?" Maya asked.

"You aren't the only one with nicknames around here." he joked.

The waitress dropped the check in front of Lucas and Maya tried to intercept if from him. "I got it." she said but he swatted her hand. "Breakfast is on me." he said as he pulled out his wallet.

Maya thanked him and finished her second cup of coffee before getting out of the booth. Lucas had left a generous tip on the table before following Maya out the door.

"So, you need to go anywhere or would you like me to drop you off at your apartment?" he asked as he followed behind her.

"Oh I can get home from here, thank you though." she said as she tried to walk away but he stopped her. "Don't be silly. Let me drive you home." he said.

She didn't fight him. She hopped in his truck and told him where to go.

About 10 minutes into the drive she noticed something off the side of the road and asked him to pull over. She jumped out of the car and ran up a small hill noticing a beautiful view ahead of her. She took in just how beautiful it was. She was surrounded by tall trees and over the mountain was the view of the skyline and all the buildings. She pulled her phone out only to find it dead. Dammit. She wanted to snap a picture of this exact scene so she could recreate it as a painting.

She had never been here before. She didn't even know New York had such beautiful views like this. She was so used to the dirty streets and the homeless people sitting just a few feet away from her building.

Lucas had shown up next to her and took a breath. He was tired from walking up the steep hill. "How did you get up here so fast? And in heels?"

She just laughed at him. They were both looking out at the view. "Can you imagine what this looks like as the sun is setting?" she said softly.

Lucas quickly pulled his phone out and took a snap of the current coordinates so that he can take her here again.

They made their way back to the truck and drove back to Maya's apartment. They drove in silence and Maya couldn't handle it. She turned the radio on to hear country music blasting through the speakers.

"What the fuck?" she yelled as she shut the music off.

Lucas couldn't help but laugh at her, "Why would you shut off the best music in the world?"

Maya scoffed, "I think something is wrong with your ears. You might want to get them checked."

Maya turned the music down and turned the station to a pop radio station, it was better than country music thats for sure.

When pulled up to her apartment, he walked her up to her door. When they got there Maya thanked him for everything he did for her. She opened her door and Olive came running right to her. She noticed Lucas standing next to her and instead of staying by Maya, she wobbled over to Lucas' side and rubbed herself all over his legs. He picked her up and scratched her chin until she purred in his hands.

"Wanna come in and hang out with her?" Maya said gesturing to come in.

"Sure." Lucas said as he entered her apartment.

As he walked in, he was engulfed with the sweet smell of vanilla. He placed Olive down on the ground and took in what he was seeing. Painting and drawings scattered around the entire apartment. Some were hung on the walls and some were scattered on the tables and shelves.

"Wow" Lucas muttered.

"Sorry it's a little messy in here. I've been a little busy and I haven't had the chance to clean up." Maya apologized.

Lucas picked up a couple of sketches that were laying out on her table. One was of Olive in her little cone. Another one was of a very detailed tree. "You drew these?" he asked as he continued to look at the papers.

"Yeah." she mumbled.

They were amazingly detailed. He was amazed by how good they were. He assumed Maya was good at what she did, he just didn't imagine that she was better than he thought.

"They're amazing." he told her.

She blushed.

"Thanks."

She put her things in her room then went to pick up all the drawings on the tables and the ones that were on the chairs.

Lucas took a seat on her couch and Olive joined him, laying spread eagle on his lap.

Maya sat on the seat next to the couch and smiled at the sight of Lucas and Olive.


	7. Chapter 7

**Woah, did you guys hear about that false alarm of the missile that was supposed to hit Hawaii yesterday? I did. The alarm woke me up at 8am. A lot of people were freaking out but my brother and I just sat in our living room half asleep like "this aint gonna hit us, we're fine" and like 10 minutes after we got the alarm, we found out that it was just a false alarm. So that was a fun Saturday morning for us. My first thought after I saw the alarm was "oh shit i'm not gonna be able to watch the football playoffs today if it actually hits" LOL oops. But yeah it's all good, half of the state didn't even care about the alarm because we didn't think it was real. It's just like our tsunami sirens, no one listens to those warnings because it _never_ hits us! So yeah, anyway, enjoy this chapter and thank you guys for the reviews!**

* * *

Lucas had been busy all week at work and Maya was hard at work helping Olive adjust to her new life without a cast. She had gotten her cast off just a few days ago and had seemed to walk funny without it. Lucas had told Maya that she's gonna walk like that for a while to get used to the feeling of her paw actually touching the ground, her bones adjusting to being back in place and in full use, and not having to wobble with a big cast around her leg. Maya wasn't super worried since Lucas assured her that Olive would make a full recovery soon.

To Maya's surprise, she and Lucas get along pretty well. They'd text each other from morning until one of them fell asleep. He even came over after he'd finish his shifts to visit Maya and Olive. The last two weeks for Maya had been interesting to say the least. She never thought her and Lucas would be friends, let alone hang out on a regular basis.

* * *

Maya woke up at 7am on Friday morning to a phone call from an unknown number. She stretched in her bed before grabbing her phone and answering it.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Hi my name is Cynthia Burns, I'm with the Manhattan Art Society. May I speak to Ms. Maya Hart please?" the woman said from the other side of the phone.

Maya shot up from her position and sat on the edge of her bed, "This is she."

"Good morning Ms. Hart. I've been keeping a close eye on you, specifically at the most recent pop up. I'm a fan of your work." Cynthia said.

"Thank you." Maya bit her bottom lip trying to contain her excitement. The Manhattan Art Society was only one of the top art exhibits in New York, and someone from there likes her work!

"I'd like to offer you a spot in our upcoming exhibit in two weeks. Are you interested?" she asked.

Maya jumped up from her bed no longer being able to keep her composure, "YES! I'd love to!"

"The exhibit is in two weeks, on Friday night. The theme is locations, mainly locations that are important to the artist. I've seen a few of your landscape pieces, this should be a piece of cake for you."

"Yeah that's perfect!" Maya said.

Cynthia asked for Maya's email to send her all the rules and guidelines along with the exhibit information. She will also get three tickets for free to give to anyone she'd like. Of course she chose Katy and Shawn, and the third ticket would go to her best friend Riley. She felt bad that she didn't have enough to give to all of her friends, but she wasn't even sure they would all be able to come anyway.

After she got off the phone with Cynthia she immediately called her mom and Shawn to give them the exciting news. They were extremely happy for her and of course, proud. After her call to her parents, she called Riley. Now Riley wasn't subtle in anyway. When Maya had broken the news to her she screamed on the phone for a full minute. She was at work, in her classroom full of students who were trying to work on their drawings, but she didn't care. She was so happy for her best friend. Maya had informed her that she only had three tickets and one was for her. Riley was too happy to care that Charlie would have to buy his own ticket to attend the exhibit. Or that Maya had to reschedule the dress shopping for her wedding, she was just happy that her best friend's dreams were coming true.

After the phone calls and bouncing around the apartment, Maya had to get to work. She had two weeks, take away a couple of days to let the painting dry and write her little report on why it's special to her.

She started by looking through her old sketches trying to see if she could find the perfect picture to paint.

She found a sketch of the bay window in Riley's family home. Maya seriously considered painting this since the bay window held a lot of memories. Her entire childhood up until college was spent in that bay window. She shared her entire life with Riley on that seat, and even Farkle spent most of his life there as well. She would spend her time there talking about boys with Riley, their deepest darkest secrets, sleepovers, they even fought there multiple times. Everything. It was her safe haven for so long. But those memories are now tainted. When she was younger, she'd giggle and gush about Josh to Riley on that bay window. Maya had a major crush on him when she was a child, and at one point in their lives, Josh was all Maya could talk about on that seat. But he's forever ruined that location for her. That and the fact that Cory Matthews lives there, and she refuses to go there ever again.

Maya even remembers the last time she was sitting on the bay window with Riley. They didn't have a bay window in their apartment, and it didn't feel right sitting on their couch and sharing their stories. So Maya asked to go back, and so they did. They sat on the bay window and Maya told Riley that Josh had asked her to be his girlfriend, just after they had gone on a few dates. Their lives had become so busy after that, Maya and Riley didn't get the chance to ever go back. And Maya won't ever go back now.

She decided not to paint the bay window and continued to look through her sketches. She found a drawing of her middle school history class room. That was the room where Riley and Maya had figured out how to survive. They had learned the secret of life, something Maya used to hold with her all the time, people change people. But she couldn't paint her middle school classroom, it was ruined with the fact that Cory Matthews was her teacher. He was HIS brother, and he took his brother's side instead of Maya's.

She kept looking through her sketches and found a sketch of Farkle's rooftop patio. They didn't go there often, but when they did, they didn't waste a second up there. There were long study sessions up there, vent sessions, drunk sessions, and they even had a few sleepovers up there in tents while the three were in college. But Maya didn't feel deeply connected to that place, not like how the bay window made her feel. So she decided not to paint that.

She also remembered the "Hope" wall that she painted at the local park, the one where she almost got arrested for vandalism. Maya was going through an identity crisis at the time and she tried to remember who she once was. Painting that at the park was her way of finding out that people really do change people, and in her case, it was for the better. But she didn't want to be reminded of the hard times in high school, so it was a no for the park.

Maya was stuck. She was usually really good at picking something to create, but with everything that has gone on in her life, she wanted this piece to be something new. So she grabbed some chips and a beer, called Olive to follow her, and she locked herself in her art studio to start thinking of places.

She started to sketch the first thing that came to her mind. She started with simple lines, which turned into some weird abstract drawing, not something suitable for the exhibit. She ripped that page out and threw it in the trash. This was going to be a long two weeks.

* * *

Lucas was starting to get worried. Maya usually replied to his text messages pretty quickly, unless one of them got super busy, which they would tell the other before not responding. He'd text her good morning every morning and would usually get a message back immediately since he knew she was up to take care of Olive. But for the last two days she hasn't responded to any text. He was worried but at the same time, he didn't want to disturb her for any reason.

It was only two days, but he missed her. He missed having a text message to respond to after he'd finish with a patient. He missed teasing her whenever she claimed that she wasn't tired but stopped replying one minute later due to her falling asleep. He missed whenever she'd send him silly selfies in response to his silly selfies.

So after today's shift he decided to take a quick stroll over to her apartment.

He had finally made it to her apartment door and knocked a few times.

No answer.

So he tried again.

Once again, no answer.

"Maya are you home?" he yelled from outside her apartment, hoping she'd hear him.

No answer.

He tried calling her once and still no answer.

So he got really worried. What if something had happened to her?

So he knocked and knocked until his fist turned red. He knocked so much and so loud that her neighbor came out to tell him to shut up.

"Hey, have you seen Maya, the girl that lives here? She's short, blonde hair, blue eyes." he asked her neighbor.

"The sassy artist? Yah I saw her a couple of days ago. She's probably locked herself in her room like she normally does when she paints. She's in there, I hear her throwing things around every once in a while." the guy said before turning and going back into his apartment.

Once Lucas was alone he started knocking again. If she was painting, why would she be throwing things? That's what got him really worried.

He continued to knock and knock. He felt like he was there for hours, when it was really only 20 minutes. But just when he was about to give up, the door opens.

In front of him stands the short blonde covered in paint splotches everywhere. Her smock hung over her body reaching right at thigh level. Her leggings had paint spots on it along with her arms. She even had a couple of small paint spots on her face.

"What?!" she said in a harsh tone as she opened the door.

Her facial expression changed as soon as she realized who it was.

"Oh huckleberry, sorry. Come in." she said as she moved to the side to let him in.

"Did you get into a paint fight?" he joked as he entered her home. Olive had made her way over to him and rubbed herself on his leg. When he noticed, he picked her up and gave her a good scratch on her chin, only to find little splashes of blue and red paint on her fur.

"Sort of." she shyly giggled. "I'm working on a piece for an upcoming art exhibit, and I need it to be perfect."

"What are you painting?" he asked her.

"More like what am I not painting." she said softly. She was defeated. She didn't have much time until the exhibit would take place. She had nothing.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she asked, trying not to be rude. She enjoyed seeing Lucas, of course, but she was really busy. And every minute out of her studio was a minute wasted.

"You haven't answered any of my texts, I was getting a little worried. I haven't heard from you in two days." he said.

Maya felt horrible, "Sorry, I've just been locked up in my studio trying to get something on my canvas."

"Can I see what you have so far?" Lucas asked her.

Maya never let anyone in her studio, other than Riley of course. She didn't know how people would react to seeing her studio. It was a mess, but it was her mess and she liked it like that. She had a lot of personal pieces in there and she wasn't sure if letting someone in there meant having them see it.

But this was Lucas, she trusted him.

So she walked toward her art studio, Lucas following behind her.

When he got to the door, he was greeted with the smell of paint. He took a good look at the studio and was amazed. It was a big room, every inch of the room was filled with art. Pictures covering every inch of the walls, large shelves with canvases on them, small shelves holding all the paints and brushes, a huge desk in front of a huge window letting in an amazing amount of natural light, easels in the middle of the room, one with paint splattered all over it. Honestly, it was a mess, but it was oddly an organized mess.

He walked over to the canvases and pulled one out to reveal a painting of a woman, who Lucas assumed was her mother since they had the same blue eyes and blonde hair. He walked over to her desk and saw sketches all over the place. Many were of the same thing, her art studio.

Maya had tried to paint her art studio on a canvas, but for some reason, she just didn't feel connected to it.

She sat on her stool; she was over it. She ripped off her smock and threw it on the table.

Lucas was in awe of her painting of her art studio, it was good. Maya argued that it wasn't up to her usual standards and that it wasn't even done.

She filled him in on the exhibit and the guidelines for the paintings. She told him that she had decided to paint her studio since it was extremely special to her, but for some strange reason she couldn't finish it. Her deadline was coming up and she was afraid she wouldn't make it in time.

Lucas had offered her a few suggestions, all of which Maya turned down. But then he thought of a place that would give her some inspiration. He checked his watch and told Maya to follow him. She did, no questions asked.

They ran through a few streets before reaching Lucas' truck. They hopped in and he drove, not telling Maya where they were going no matter how many time she had asked.

When they arrived, he pulled over to the side of the road and parked his truck. He jumped out of his side and ran over to open Maya's door. He took her hand without thinking and just ran with her. They ran up a steep hill until they reached the spot.

"Lucas" she whispered as she took in the view.

They were at the look out she found the first time they had hung out.

"I thought this would help give you some inspiration. I hope that's okay?" he asked.

"It's perfect." she said as she looked at him. She had a huge smile plastered on her face.

She pulled out her phone to take pictures of the view, only to realize that the sun was about to set. She switched her camera from photo to video so that she could capture every second of the sunset. She wanted ever color and every position of the sun possible.

They were there for a while, Maya taking in her surroundings.

This truly was the perfect spot.

She found this after Josh, after finding out that he won't be bothering her anymore, after taking in Olive, and after meeting a new friend.

It was the start of a better life for herself.

When she was done taking in the view, she jumped in excitement to get home and paint. She and Lucas ran back to the truck and he drove to take her home.

When they got back to her apartment, Lucas walked her to her door.

Before she went into her apartment she stopped and looked at Lucas.

"Thank you Lucas, you really inspired me." she said before getting on her tippy toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek. She turned on her toes and ran into her apartment, leaving Lucas speechless.


	8. Chapter 8

The morning of the Manhattan Art Society Exhibit was the most stressful morning for Maya. Her art was going to be shown to everyone in Manhattan. She fed Olive her breakfast just as Riley came barging into her apartment. "I'm here! What's the emergency?" Riley said in a panic, thinking there was an actual emergency.

"I have nothing to wear tonight!" Maya said as she ran over to Riley.

"That's your emergency?" Riley dropped her bag on the ground and walked away from Maya. "Here I was thinking something had happened to Olive when you called me 20 minutes ago."

"I was up all night looking through my closet and couldn't find anything to wear. I had a "just in case I can't find anything" dress but I tried it on this morning and decided that I hate it. I'm back to nothing!" Maya said slumping into the couch next to Riley.

"How about we go shopping today? We can find you a nice dress to wear, and I can buy something new too since I haven't decided what to wear yet." Riley suggested.

"Perfect! Let me go get ready!" Maya said hopping off the couch and bouncing toward her bedroom.

"WAIT!" Riley shouted not even looking at her blonde best friend.

Maya froze.

"Yes honey?"

"Who's shirt are you wearing right now?" Riley asked, still not looking at Maya.

Maya looked down to see that she was wearing the blue shirt that Lucas let her borrow just a few weeks ago. She forgot to give it back to him the few times she had seen him since she got it. It was actually extremely soft and comfy. Maya ended up wearing it to sleep sometimes, and it surprisingly still smells like him.

"…..my shirt." Maya hesitated.

"Your shirt? Then why is it 3 sizes too big for you?" Riley asked getting up and walking over to Maya.

"I bought it large so I could wear it as a t-shirt dress." Maya smiled.

Riley wasn't convinced. She grabbed the shirt and took a sniff of it, "AH HA! IT'S A BOY'S SHIRT! IT SMELLS LIKE BOY!" Riley got all excited. "IS IT THE HOT VET'S SHIRT? MAYA DID YOU SLEEP WITH HIM? IS HE HERE RIGHT NOW?"

"Calm down honey." Maya said as she put her hands on Riley's shoulders. "It is his shirt, but I didn't sleep with him and no he isn't here right now. I was out drinking with Lucas' friend Zay and I got way too drunk to walk home the other weekend. He called Lucas to help me and I ended up staying at his apartment."

"Was that the weekend you asked me to feed Olive?" Maya nodded. "You told me you were at your mom's place! YOU LIED!" Riley pouted.

"I only lied because I knew you'd react like this. But I didn't sleep with him." she said.

"Then how'd you get his shirt?" Riley asked.

"He took me to breakfast the next morning and I didn't want to wear the shirt I had on, it smelt like I dumped an entire bottle of vodka on it. So he let me borrow his shirt." Maya shrugged.

"And you haven't given it back?" Riley shrieked.

"Nope. I honestly forgot about it." Maya said.

"But you've been wearing it to sleep."

Maya just shrugged and ran into her room to change. She was done with Riley constantly bugging her about Lucas' shirt.

It was just a shirt.

She changed into black leggings and an oversized sweater before throwing her hair in a messy ponytail on the top of her head. She threw on some sneakers before meeting Riley at the front door.

The two took a short walk to the subway and took a short ride over to the closest mall. It was too hard for Maya to pick something. The Manhattan Art Society was a very well known society. They always held very fancy exhibits and Maya was sure this would be one of those. She wanted to look her absolute best without looking too overdressed.

Riley had picked something out easily. She chose a tight light purple dress that gave her boobs a little push to look like she actually had boobs.

Maya, on the other hand, went into three stores and found nothing. She was tired, running out of time, and felt like she'd never find something to wear. But, to her surprise, the fourth store that she walked into had a beautiful white flowing dress on the mannequin that Maya had to try on. It wasn't super fancy, so she could wear this for more than one occasion, but was fancy enough for something like this art exhibit. The store worker walked her over to the well lit dressing room and handed her the dress in her size. Maya slipped into it and instantly fell in love with it. She did a little twirl in front of the mirror and she was set to buy it. Of course the dress went down to her feet, so she'd have to wear some heels with it, but she was fine with it.

Maya paid for the dress and walked out with Riley, not showing her what she got. She wanted both the painting and her dress to be a surprise.

* * *

Maya had to be at the exhibit room at least half an hour before it started so they could set up. She wasn't set in the front, which is exactly what she wanted. She hated being in the front for things like this. She was placed somewhere in the middle of the exhibit and she was fine with that. Her canvas was up on the wall for everyone to see. She hadn't seen the piece in a couple of days and actually forgot just how big she had made it. The canvas was bigger than Maya's normal paintings, and she was amazed at just how perfect she got the colors.

The pieces around hers were just as beautiful, if not more. She couldn't believe she was showing her art here at the Manhattan Art Society. She felt like she was dreaming and had to pinch herself to finally believe that she made it here.

There was a small plaque beside her piece with a short note about the painting. Maya had originally written a long explanation about her piece, but ended up shortening it to perfection.

"New Beginnings

by Maya Hart

The place where my new and better life started."

Just minutes before the doors opened to let people in, Cynthia called everyone over to congratulate them on making it here. She had waiters come out with glasses of champagne and get ready for the crowd.

She opened the doors and let people in. Slowly people filed into the exhibit, looking at all the paintings on the walls. Maya grabbed a glass of champagne and walked around looking at the paintings as well. She didn't want to be near her painting as people came by. She wasn't sure how people would respond to it and she didn't want to see. The only opinions she really cared about were walking through the door as Maya took a sip of champagne.

Riley walked into the exhibit with Charlie in hand. The second she found Maya by a painting she almost screamed. Charlie had to remind her a few times that it was a very fancy place and things like bouncing and screaming wouldn't be accepted. Instead, she internally screamed and quickly walked over to Maya and engulfed her in a hug.

"Maya I'm so so so happy for you! I knew your painting would end up in a high class exhibit like this one day!" Riley said as she held Maya.

Maya wanted to start crying. She had worked so hard to get to this place. She's finally free from her past and she got such a huge opportunity like this exhibit. Her life really was getting better.

"Also, good choice on the dress. You look beautiful!"

Riley finally let her go and Charlie pulled her into a hug to congratulate her as well. They both grabbed glasses of champagne as Maya walked them over to her painting.

Riley's jaw dropped.

The painting was beautiful. It was so detailed and absolutely breath taking. It was like they were actually looking at a sunset. The trees were the perfect shade of green and the sunset colors were perfectly captured. Maya had even made sure to get every detail of each building, now that took her a long time.

"This is in New York?" Riley asked. Maya nodded.

Katy and Shawn had appeared behind Maya to surprise her.

"Aw baby girl, it's beautiful!" Katy said as Maya jumped. She turned to meet her parents and she got pulled into a group huge by the two. "We're so proud of you Maya." Shawn said as they let her go.

"Thanks guys." she said holding back some tears.

Maya really only needed Riley and her parents there to celebrate with her. But to her surprise, as she turned toward the entrance, she saw Missy, Smackle and Farkle walking toward them.

Maya couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't tell many people about the exhibit, she really only told Lucas, Katy, Shawn, and Riley. Oh Riley. She told everyone else.

Missy came over to Maya first to give her a hug and congratulate her, Smackle following her. Smackle never really liked physical contact, so whenever she initiated a hug with her, Maya was always happy.

Maya never expected Farkle to show face. She was surprised he had answered Riley. After he hugged her, Maya was dying to know what he had decided to tell Riley. "I know you haven't told Riley yet since she hasn't told me about it. So when are you gonna do it?" she asked in a hushed tone so no one else would hear them.

"I'm not so sure I want to tell her. I mean look at her." he said gesturing toward Riley and Charlie, "She's so happy with him. I don't want to ruin that. I think I'll be okay as long as I know she's happy." he said. Maya put a hand on his shoulder for support.

She understood where he was coming from. She had her doubts about Charlie from the beginning, but she never said anything because Riley was head over heels in love with him. So far he hasn't done anything to make Maya want to snap his neck but she still doesn't fully trust him. Mainly because no one is ever that perfect. But Riley deserved to be happy, and Charlie made her happy, so Maya was okay with it.

Riley and Charlie had moved on to look at a few more paintings which made Farkle move to go look at Maya's piece. He didn't want to see Riley, mainly because she knew he wasn't going to photograph her wedding, and he had been ignoring her anytime she called or messaged him about it.

The rest of the group had moved on to look at other paintings well. Maya worked up the courage to see people's reactions to her painting. She lingered around her painting to see some reactions, and she felt pretty good since no one had a disgusted look on their face when they looked at her piece.

She was about to grab her third glass of champagne when she noticed a familiar face walking into the exhibit. It was Lucas and Zay. She couldn't believe it.

These tickets were no where cheap, and she couldn't believe that he'd buy a ticket to come see her piece. She couldn't believe that any of her friends would spend so much money to come and see her work.

She locked eyes with him and his face lit up.

He was extremely happy to see Maya, mainly because he hadn't seen in her quite a few days. He actually hadn't talked to her in a few days either due to her stressing about tonight. But there she was. standing in front of him. Just a few more steps and he'd be able to hold her again.

As he approached her, he scooped her into a huge hug, lifting her off the ground. "What are you doing here?" she asked into his neck. When he was done hugging her, he placed her back onto the ground safely.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this night for the world. I'm so proud of you Maya." he smiled.

Her heart skipped a beat. She was so happy to see him. She was even happy to see Zay, even though the sight of him reminds of her the night she got way too drunk. None the less, she was happy to see Zay and he pulled her in for a hug to congratulate her as well.

The boys walked over to her piece and they were in awe. "I know you told me she was good, but you didn't say she was this good." Zay complained to Lucas.

Maya giggled as she heard the boys talk about her painting. Her heart was filled with happiness. The most important people in her lives were all there in one room, supporting her.

Riley had come to Maya's side and squeezed her hand. "Looks like your boyfriend showed up." she giggled. Maya swatted her away from her, "He's not. Stop." but she couldn't help but smile. She was just too happy to be upset.

Riley turned and saw her mom entering the exhibit and walked over to see her. "Is he here?" she whispered to Topanga. She shook her head and walked over to Maya.

"Maya." she said to get her attention. Maya jumped at the sound of her name being said in that voice. She hadn't heard that voice in so long, she missed it. She turned to face Topanga, and this time she couldn't stop the tears. She ran into Topanga's arms and let her tears fall.

She had missed Topanga dearly. Topanga was like her second mom. After everything went down, Maya hadn't gone back to the Matthews' apartment, meaning she hadn't seen Topanga in forever. Maya had stopped by the bakery every once in a while, but she was never working on the days she would go. So eventually Maya had given up, accepting the fact that she would never see Topanga again. But she was here at the art exhibit, here to support Maya, and especially here without him.

"I'm so proud of you sweetie." she said into Maya's neck. Maya let out a few more tears before she pulled away from the hug. Topanga wiped away some tears and rubbed her arms.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but Cory wanted me to tell you congrats as well and that he's immensely sorry for how things went down." Topanga said in a hushed tone. She knew Maya didn't want anything to do with Cory, and even Cory knew that. But when he found out about the art exhibit, he wanted to be there to congratulate her himself. But smartly decided not to ruin her happy day.

Maya nodded her head at Topanga as she tried to pull herself together. Riley took her mom to go look at the painting and Lucas appeared at Maya's side.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as he gently rubbed her back. She nodded in response, still trying to regain herself.

He reached out for her hand and offered to take her around the exhibit for a bit. She gladly accepted.

The two walked around the exhibit, hand in hand, looking at all the beautiful paintings on the walls. With all the talent there tonight, Maya was amazed that she even made it here. She saw paintings that looked like they should be in a museum. She seriously doubted her artistic ability after seeing everyone's paintings tonight.

But that all changed when a very rich man offered her a lot of money for her painting at the end of the exhibit. She seriously considered selling it. But after everything she had gone through, she wanted to keep the painting as a reminder that she got her new beginning. That was something she wanted to keep forever.

After turning the man down, Riley suggested going out to dinner to celebrate. Maya, Missy and Smackle had agreed to go. Farkle declined, said his congrats to Maya once more before digging out before Riley could ask him why.

Riley stopped Lucas and Zay from leaving and invited them to dinner, ignoring Maya's facial expressions telling her not to. It's not that Maya didn't want them to join, she just knew this was going to be an awkward meal.

Lucas and Zay had said yes to dinner, and even offered to give Maya a ride to the restaurant. The boys were thinking they were about to pull up to a fancy restaurant, but to their surprise, Maya had led them to a small diner called Nighthawk Diner.

Everyone was completely overdressed for the diner, but they all piled into a booth that was big enough for the seven of them. Lucas squished into the booth right next to Maya.

Everyone knew what they wanted to order except for Lucas and Zay of course, it was their first time there. Riley had explained to them that this was where Maya and her always ate as kids. Maya's mom used to work here before she became the Manager at Topanga's bakery, so she spent a lot of afternoons here doing homework and eating her favorite tuna melt.

The group had shared many embarrassing stories about Maya to their new friends Lucas and Zay. Maya sipped on her favorite milkshake and just looked down at her tuna melt. Riley truly knew how to embarrass her. But she felt a lot better when Lucas lightly rubbed her back, reassuring her that she shouldn't be embarrassed.

The group had also learned a lot about Lucas and Zay, and how they're originally from Texas. Which explained why Maya had called Lucas huckleberry and ranger rick during dinner.

Charlie had gone to the bathroom, so he missed the story on how Maya knew Lucas and Zay. Riley never actually told him that, which was shocking since Riley usually tells Charlie everything. As Charlie took his seat next to Riley, he asked, "So Maya, how'd you meet your boyfriend?" without thinking.

Maya felt her cheeks heating up quickly, "He's not my boyfriend, we met at his job. He's a vet and he took care of Olive when she was hurt." she said in one breath. She took a quick glance over at Lucas and saw his face turning red too. Everyone was looking at them. Maya quickly changed the subject to anything but them. They ended up talking about the exhibit, and how everyone enjoyed her painting.

By the end of dinner, Maya was ready to get out of that dress and get some drinks into her system. She suggested they go to the karaoke bar that she loved and everyone agreed to go. They left the diner and headed on out to the bar.

Lucas and Zay had driven Maya back to her apartment so she could change. The boys spent some time with Olive, feeding her and playing with her, while Maya changed out of her long white dress into a short grey body-con dress and heels.

As she exited her room, she was met with Zay laying on the ground with Olive on his chest and Lucas sitting next to him. She closed the door behind her and both boys jumped up. Lucas' jaw dropped, Zay was surprised Lucas wasn't drooling at this point. "Well let's go!" Maya said as she walked toward the front door, Lucas and Zay happily walking behind her.

When they got to the bar, the group had already gotten a booth for them to sit at. Maya grabbed three beers from the bar and met up with the rest of them. She gave Lucas and Zay a beer and sat next to Lucas, across from Zay.

After a few beers and a few shots, Zay and Maya were up onstage singing their hearts out to 'I See The Light' from the disney movie Tangled, one of their favorites.

After a few more beers, Maya had somehow convinced Lucas to join her onstage. At this point, Riley was sipping on her fifth margarita, Smackle still trying to finish her second margarita, Missy was off flirting with a hottie by the bar, and Charlie was drinking water and staying sober since he was the designated driver.

Lucas joined Maya onstage and 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' started playing per Zay's choice. To Maya's surprise, Lucas could actually sing; either he was really good or Maya was just too drunk to notice that he was actually horrible. With Maya singing along, Lucas didn't sound completely terrible.

While singing the song, the two had moved closer and closer together, which was what Zay was hoping would happen. By the end of the song, the two were so close, they could feel the other's heart beat. So close that they were inches away from kissing.

Applause erupted from the crowd, which caused the two to split apart faster than ever. Lucas let out a light laugh as Maya walked off stage and to the table that held her beer. She took a huge swig and sat next to Riley. "Yous houldhave kisseds himMaya" Riley managed to say as normal as possible. But let's be real, Riley was drunk. Maya shook her head then took the margarita from Riley's hands and finished it herself. "Start sobering up honey, it's almost 2am." she handed Riley the glass of water and rubbed her back to calm her down a bit. Charlie took Maya's place and Maya went to see if Zay wanted another round up onstage. As she walked over to Zay, Lucas cut her off.

"Hey." he said.

"Hi" Maya replied.

"Look about what happened up there" he started.

"Don't worry about it." she cut him off, "We got really into the song and we were drinking a lot, it happens."

"No Maya, I just-"

"Really don't worry about it." Maya said before starting to walk away from him.

Lucas was frustrated and he didn't want her to leave. He grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away, spun her around and pulled her close to him.

They were as close as they were onstage, maybe even closer if that's possible.

Maya looked up at Lucas, desperately wanting to close the gap between them.

But before she could think, Lucas had already closed the gap.

Her lips touched his and sparks flew all throughout her body.

Maya was shocked, but she didn't want this moment to end.

She leaned in and tilted her head a bit to deepen the kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday mornings were usually spent sleeping in for Maya, especially after a stressful few weeks of painting and meeting a deadline.

Maya woke up at 7am on the dot to feed Olive her breakfast. When she opened her eyes she saw a body on hers, a half naked body on hers. Her head was pounding and pounding as she tried to pull herself out from under the guy's body. Figuring out that she wouldn't be able to get up unless he moved, she slumps back into her place. The body rolls over and pulls her with him, right into his chest. Maya took a deep breath and could smell cinnamon lingering on the man. Just from his scent, she knew it was Lucas.

It took her a second, but she realized what had happened last night.

 _After Lucas kissed her at the bar, Maya was eager for them to get back to her place. They rushed over and went straight for her bedroom. After many heated kisses and clothes being thrown around the room, Lucas had to stop. Maya had been drinking a lot that night, and she wasn't fully in her right mind. That was something Lucas didn't want to take advantage of. Of course he wanted to be with Maya, and she wanted to be with him. But this was something he'd rather do while she was sober. Lucas had tried leaving, but Maya wouldn't let him, she didn't want him to go; she liked his company. So he told her he'd sleep on her couch, but she asked if he'd sleep with her. So that's what they did, they fell asleep next to each other, half naked._

She was comfy. She didn't want to get up from this position. She gave in and fell into him, slowly drifting back to sleep.

Not even twenty minutes later, Olive jumps onto the bed and craws on top the two. Maya is the first one to get up. Olive notices and walks over to her face and starts rubbing herself against Maya, purring right in her ear. She got comfy and decided to lay on top the two, placing her butt right on Lucas' face.

With the feeling of fur on his face, Lucas woke up. Olive's butt was right on his chin, just covering his mouth.

He lifted his arm and held Olive up while he moved over before placing her onto the pillow. Olive cried a soft meow and Maya got up to see her. She propped herself up on one elbow and scratched Olive for a bit.

"Good morning." Lucas said.

"Morning." Maya smiled.

They were both still very sleepy and in no mood to get up. So they just lay there, scratching Olive and talking about the night before.

A few minutes passed and Maya heard the front door of her apartment opening.

"Maya?"

The voice echoed through the apartment.

"Oh shit." she jumped out of bed and grabbed the closest shirt she could find, which was Lucas' dress shirt.

She ran out of her room and was met with Riley standing in the kitchen.

"Hey Riles." she smiled.

"Did you just wake up? I thought you'd be awake and ready by now." she pouted.

Maya and Riley were supposed to go wedding dress shopping today, and Maya almost forgot.

"I'm so sorry honey, I forgot to set my alarm when I got home and my hangover made me sleep in."

"Why'd you leave so early last night?" she asked.

Maya was hesitant to answer, mainly because she didn't know how to answer. She didn't want to tell Riley that she ran home with Lucas because Riley would jump right to the conclusion that they had slept together, when they didn't, and wouldn't believe her when she told the truth.

"Doesn't matter anymore, we're gonna be late. Please go get ready!" Riley pushed Maya toward her room. Olive came running out as she opened the door and jumped on the windowsill where Maya usually feeds her. She sat patiently and waited as Riley got her kibble out.

Maya ran back into her room and saw Lucas putting his pants on.

"Hey, you can't leave yet, Riley is out there and I don't want her to know you spent the night." she whispered to him.

"Why?"

"Because when she finds out that you spent the night, I'll never hear the end of it. I'd rather not deal with that while I have a hangover."

"Okay fine, I'll wait until you leave, then I'll leave after you." Maya agreed with him.

She rushed over to her closet and threw off his shirt, tossing it back to him. She took a peak at Lucas who had his back facing hers. She slipped into clean underwear as quickly as possible so he doesn't turn and see her. She threw on high waisted white jeans and a black cropped sweater. She threw on black heeled boots before running into her bathroom to wash up. As she applied moisturizer to her face, Lucas joined her in the bathroom still without his shirt on.

He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"So, I was thinking." he turned his head to look at her, "Would you like to go on a date with me this Friday?"

Maya froze.

He actually asked her out.

Wow.

She smiled, "Sure."

He gave her a peck on her cheek and left her to finish getting ready.

She finished brushing her hair out and waved bye to Lucas as she left her room.

She met up with Riley bye the front door. She grabbed her bag and a coat before saying bye to Olive and walking out the door.

"Bye Lucas!" Riley shouted before following Maya out the front door, leaving Maya frozen in her tracks.

* * *

"I still don't understand how you knew!" Maya said as the two got off the subway.

"Maya, you were wearing his shirt. How could I not know?" Riley smiled.

Riley grabbed Maya by the arm and walked side by side until they made it to the dress shop.

Riley had been waiting for this day her whole life. She had always dreamed of trying on wedding dresses and today would finally be the day.

"Welcome girls! My name is Sydney and I'll be your consultant for today. You must be Riley. Is anyone else joining you today?" the lady said upon entering the store.

"Yes, and this is my best friend Maya. My mom will join us too, she should be here in a few minutes." Riley said.

"Perfect, well feel free to take a look around. I'll be at the front desk when you're ready to start trying on dresses!" she smiled and walked over to her desk.

Riley had always wanted to wear a huge ballgown for her wedding dress, but when she walked past a few mermaid style dresses she amazed by how beautiful they were. She had grabbed two mermaid style dresses and handed them over to Maya then continued to look through her ballgowns.

"Okay, but we didn't sleep together Riley, he just slept next to me." Maya continued, not letting Riley jump to conclusions about what happened last night.

"Okay. I believe you." Riley said before pulling out a big ballgown. She handed it to Maya and kept looking.

"You believe me?" Maya paused, "No nagging me about having a guy sleep in bed with me half naked?"

Riley snapped her head toward Maya, "You never said you guys were half naked! Now I need the whole story!"

Dammit. Maya knew she shouldn't have pushed, but she just couldn't believe that Riley was just going to let her off the hook like that. Normally Riley always wants to hear about the guys in Maya's life, especially the hunky vet.

"We were heading in the direction of sleeping together. But he stopped. I was really drunk and he said he didn't want to take advantage of me in that state. So we just slept." Maya said in a hushed tone, not wanting Sydney to hear at the front desk.

"Aw he's a gentleman!" Riley smiled and left the matter at that.

Riley had pulled two more ballgowns before Topanga came into the store. She rushed over and hugged Riley then took some dresses from Maya before giving her a hug.

"Now that we're all here, let's get to trying the dresses on!" Sydney said after meeting Topanga.

Sydney took the dresses from Maya and Topanga and showed Riley where the dressing room was. Maya and Topanga took a seat on the couch and waited patiently for Riley to come out in her first dress. They took the time to catch up a bit. Topanga had asked Maya about Josh going to rehab, but didn't push if she was too uncomfortable to talk about it.

Truth is, Maya didn't really talk about Josh going to rehab with anyone, not even Riley. She had gone out that night and got really drunk to try and forget about her last encounter with Josh. But getting drunk only made her emotional and she spilled her feelings out to an equally drunk Zay. Other than that, she hasn't said a word about it. So it was nice to talk to Topanga about it. Maya had expressed how she was hurt that it took him this long to get his life together and she questioned why he couldn't do that while they were still together. Topanga didn't have all the answers, so she did what she knew would make Maya feel better, hold her and tell her it wasn't her fault.

Riley came out in her first dress, a stunning mermaid styled Val Stefani dress. It was strapless and completely beaded until you got to the skirt, which was a long and beautifully layered train. Riley looked beautiful in it, she'd look beautiful in anything really. Seeing Riley in a wedding dress made both Maya and Topanga tear up a bit. She twirled in the dress and opted to stick with a ballgown since she felt confined in the mermaid dress. So she turned and ran right back into the dressing room to throw out the mermaid dresses that she chose.

The next dress she came out in was a huge Pnina Tornai ball gown. The top was made of lace with a deep v-neckline. The skirt was a mixture of tulle and lace beautifully combined. The dress was absolutely beautiful and Riley looked amazing in it. But the dress itself was so big and the train was so long, Riley seemed to be lost in the dress. So she said no to the dress and went right back to the dressing room.

Riley tried on what felt like a hundred dresses before narrowing them down to three dresses designed by Hayley Paige.

The first one was a ball gown, not huge, but big enough to satisfy Riley. It had a spaghetti strap bodice with a deep sweetheart neckline and a cascading banded tulle skirt.

The second dress was an ivory lace and tulle ball gown. It had a deep curved v-neckline and an open back; the bottom was a cascading tiered skirt.

The third dress, and most likely the dress Riley will pick, was a tulle ball gown with a marzipan floral accent. It had a draped taffeta bodice with a curved v-neckline being held by spaghetti straps. The skirt detail was hand painted flowers along the edges and a cascading tiered skirt. It was the simple white ball gown with a touch of color all along the skirt, something Riley loved so much.

She fell in love with all three dresses and couldn't make a decision that day, although she knew in her heart that the third dress would be the one, she just couldn't commit today. So she asked Sydney to hold the three dresses for her and that she'll get back to her on her choice.

The three left the shop and Topanga said her goodbyes since she needed to get back to work. Maya was starving and Riley had the rest of the day free, so the two went out for lunch.

After the girls ordered, Riley was oddly silent and Maya knew something was bothering her.

"What's wrong honey?" Maya asked, pouting at Riley.

"Why do you think Farkle won't photograph my wedding?" she blurted out.

It caught Maya off guard. She thought they were past this issue and Riley was okay with the photographer that they had booked instead of Farkle.

"Well he has to work out of state a-" Riley cut her off.

"You've already told me that. But I don't think that's the reason. He didn't even look at me at your art exhibit last night. He didn't even say hi to me. What's up with that?"

Just as Riley asked, the waitress came by with their food.

"Why are you suddenly so bothered by it?" Maya asked before eating a fork full of pasta.

"We're best friends, the three of us, and it's never been so weird for us." Riley paused. Maya could tell that wasn't it, something else was bothering her.

"What happened Riley?"

Riley was quiet for a minute. She had been keeping this secret from Maya for years now, not sure of how Maya would take it. Heck, she wasn't sure how anyone would take it.

She took a deep breath, "Farkle and I slept together."

Maya dropped her fork on her plate making a loud noise through the restaurant. "You what?!" she was shocked.

"Shhhhhh!" Riley covered Maya's mouth.

"When did this happen?" Maya removed Riley's hand from her mouth.

"It was a while ago. It was the summer after our freshman year of college."

"Wait he was your first? You told me you lost your virginity to Adam Whitt junior year of college." Maya stopped her, obviously hurt that Riley had lied to her.

"I lied. I didn't want anyone to know Farkle and I hooked up." she sighed.

"Why not? That's not something you should be embarrassed about. You had your first time with someone that was special to you. He's your best friend. What's a better experience than that?" Maya rubbed Riley's arm.

"That's the problem though! We were best friends! I thought after we had done it, we'd go back to how we were. But it hasn't been the same since. Sure it looked like everything was fine from the outside, but we barely talked. We actually didn't talk unless you were there with us. Things became so weird between us. I'm so sure that's why he doesn't want to photograph my wedding." Riley was hurt. Maya was hurt too. Her best friend had kept such a huge secret from her. But she knew where Riley was coming from.

"I guess that's something you should talk to Farkle about. Get all your feelings out now or it's only going to get worse from here." Maya said.

Riley nodded. She knew Maya was right. The longer she kept her feelings in about it, the worse she felt. She just wanted things to be like they used to, before all of this happened.

When the girls finished lunch, they caught a subway back to their apartment and walked together until they had to part ways.

As Maya passed the parking lot of her building, she noticed Lucas' truck gone, so she knew he was no longer in her apartment.

She grabbed her mail out of her mail slot before walking up to her apartment. She turned the key and opened the door to Olive sitting on top of kitchen table, patiently waiting for Maya to come give her some love. Maya tossed her things on the table and walked over to hug Olive.

After many chin scratches and a few treats, Olive was satisfied and jumped off the table to sleep on her windowsill. Maya had grabbed her mail and quickly looked through what she had.

Bill.

Bill.

Credit card advertisement.

Letter from Josh.

Building reminder for bulky pick up trash day.

Bill.

Wait.

Maya threw the letters onto the table until she found the one she had seen.

A letter from Josh.

It didn't have his name on it, but she recognized the handwriting and knew immediately that it was from him.

She was at a loss of words. She wasn't sure she wanted to open it.

He had told her that he was no longer going to bother her anymore since he'd be in rehab. So why was he sending her a letter.

She dropped it on the counter and walked away.

She plopped onto the couch and turned the tv on to keep her mind off of the letter. She had flipped through many channels before landing on Fixer Upper on HGTV. She threw the remote onto the table and watched the show for a few minutes before getting fussy.

Now she really wanted to know what was in that letter.

She jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen to grab the letter.

She ripped open the envelope and out fell a piece of folder paper. She unfolded it and was met with a long written letter.

"Dear Maya,

Part of my rehab is a support group for alcoholics. Just like on tv, we sit in a circle and talk about our past and our feelings. There's a guy in the group that has made the same mistakes that I made. He was abusive and he hurt the people closest to him. I've shared a total of three times. All of the times I shared, it was about how awful I felt hurting you.

The support leader thought it would be a good idea for us to express our feelings in a letter to the person of our choice. I chose you.

Maya, you need to know I never meant to hurt you. All those horrible things I've done to you in the past, they were the dumbest things I've ever done. I can't believe I let myself get so addicted to alcohol. I let it take over my life and I hurt you.

That wasn't how I pictured our relationship. I pictured us being together for a long time, happy and in love. You were the one Maya. I loved you so damn much. I'll never forgive myself for messing that up.

I know that no amount of apologies will make up for the years of abuse that I put you through. I just need you to know that I'm changing, and I'll never let myself get like that again. You were the best thing to ever happen in my life and I ruined it. I ruined our someday and I'm deeply sorry for doing that.

I hope that you've moved on and found happiness, even if it's not with me. I know that especially with our history, you'll never take me back; so whoever you're with, I hope he makes you happy. Because I do want you to be happy Maya.

I just hope that one day you can forgive me for all that I've put you through.

Sincerely,

Josh Matthews"

* * *

 _So you guys should know, I watch a lot of Say Yes To The Dress, so I used designers from the show and I had fun doing some wedding dress research for this chapter lol_

 _Thank you guys again for the reviews and the support of this story._

 _I also started another story called Raised On It. I was listening to Sam Hunt and was inspired to write a country story lol_

 _Anyway, thanks again ❤︎_


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